THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



A Teacher-Training-Class Education 
For Everybody 

IN TWELVE LESSONS 
OF ONE HOUR EACH 



By 



John Bunyan Lemon. D. D. 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



A Teacher-Training-Class Education 
For Everybody 



IN TWELVE LESSONS 
OF ONE HOUR EACH 



By John Bunyan Lemon, D. D. 



Copyright, 1922, by 
John Bunyan Lemon 



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PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR 
Rev. J. B. Lemon, D. D. 
Greenfield, Mass. 



50 Cents 



Postpaid 



Including of Course 

1 Chart covering the whole structure of the Bible. 

2 Diagrams outlining the Daily Reading for the whole Bible. 
9 Cartoon-maps locating incidents of the whole Bible. 

12 Lecture-outlines explaining the miake-up of the whole Bible. 



©C!.A6o9791 



^?H 26 \^22 



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THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



BELIEVING 

That this book is set for doing a great deal of good to Bible students 
in general, to Sunday-school teachers in particular, and to all young 
people of promising usefulness into whose hands it may be put by the 
generosity and recommendation of itsJ friends, this copy is presented to 



with the compliments of 



Why do you not also follow the above suggestion and help circulate 
this book by presenting a copy to one or more of your friends? This 
would be the best and quickest way to reach the thoughtful readers 
for whom this book is intended; readers, who, after being blessed by 
it, would be delighted to pass the blessing to others. One dollar will 
carry this book, postpaid, to two different families, with your compli- 
ments written in as above if you so direct, or without mention of your 
name in ciase you do not authorize it. 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



A GUARANTEE 



It maj' be well worth ^vhile to put the following paragraph in the 
form of a guarantee. For it has been tried out, time and again, and 
proven beyond all question that this method of Bible study produces 
quick and good results always. 

Any young person in the teens age or in the twenties, endowed 
with the ordinary education expected of his age by the public school 
curriculum, will, by studying these twelve lessons faithfully one hour 
each week for twelve weeks, become more familiar with the Bible as 
a book, as a library, and as a structure having a definite pltan and 
purpose, than the majority of other people ever obtain before they 
reach the sunset side of life. 

Why not try it out for yourself by doing the work suggested here? 
No pupil ever learns Latin or Greek without writing out some exercises. 
Writing fixes it in memory. Color these maps, look up these references 
by using the mental processes herein outlined, and you will be surprised 
to find how the whole Bible becomes visualized in its entirety las a 
living, heavenly messenger adapted to all your needs. 




I 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



THE BIBLE AS A STRUCTURE 



"The Bible As It Is," and not the Bible as some think it ought to 
be, will be our study. Not a man now living had anything to do with 
the form in which the Bible now is as we have it. It claims to be 
a book backed up and endorsed by God, and it certainly produces 
godliness in men who reverently study it -and believe it. 

It claims to be a guidebook • from heaven to teach men how to be 
saved and without which men cannot be saved at all. It docs not 
stand to reason therefore that God would attach so much importance 
to this Book and then hand it down to us in a condition unsiiatisfactory 
to Himself or misleading to us'. Consequently we have no time in 
these lessons to deal with hostile critics of the Bible. Whether their 
criticisms be trivial or serious, let them try their cases in som.e other 
court. We concede to them nothing and we have no time to bother 
with them. Our position is that if God has been pleased for centuries 
to preserve and hand down to us "The Bible As It Is," He will hold 
Himself, and not us, responsible for what it teaches. Therefore we 
will try to study it just exactly las it is handed to us without finding 
any fault with Him at all. 

We find that it is a combination of books bound together in one 
volume or structure, through which runs a scarlet thread, the blood 
of. Jesus Christ, first as prophecy then as history. It was written by 
some thirty-five or forty men who lived in many different centuries, 
in several different countries, and who spoke different languages, or 
dialects. 

The Old Testament was written in Hebrew, the New Testament in 
Greek. Nevertheless, these books are all one Book, supplementing 
one another and bracing up one another like so many angels of light 
gathered around the cross of Calvary «.nd looking toward the throne 
in heaven. Each book has its own individual message, like a singer 
in the heavenly choir, all the voices blending in perfect harmony, but 
each one to be heard as a part of the chorus and not by itself lalone. 

The Bible is a rock. Like the rocks of the mountains, it has seams 
in it to show how it was formed. But it is nevertheless a rock, a 
solid mass, and not a pile of stones to be taken apart tat pleasure and 
tlirown away. 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



There are thirtv-nine books of the Old Testament and twenty-seven 
in the New. They cover history in twelve periods of time: 



(1) From the Creation to the Fall of Man. 

(2) From the Fall of Man to the Flood. 

(3) From the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 

(4) From the Gall of Abraham to the Descent into Egypt. 

(5) From the Descent into Egypt to the Exodus... 

(6) From the Exodus to the Death of Moses. 

(7) From the Death of Moses to the Judges. 

(8) From the First of the Judges to the Kings. 

(9) From the First of the Kings to the Carrying away into Babylon. 

(10) From the Carrying away into Babylon to the Restoration of 

Jerusalem. 

(11) From the Restoration of Jerusalem to the Birth of Christ. 

(12) From the Birth of Christ to the Death of the Apostle John. 



Twelve is an easy number to remember. For there were twelve 
tribes of Israel, twelve books of History, twelve Minor Prophets, and 
twelve Apostles. We will study this Book of books in twelve periods, 
one lesson an hour to each period. 




THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



THE BIBLE AS A LIBRARY 



It is possible to remember the names of the 66 books of the IMble 
and the order in which they come, without any helps at all. Bat it is 
so much easier to do it if the whole structure can be visualized in a 
cartoon that is accurate, informing and suggestive. The Bible is a 
library, then why not picture it as such? We can remember easily 
on what shelf a book is and whether it is on the end or the middle 
of the shelf. We owe it to our own minds and to our pupils to make 
it as easy as possible to remember. 

The New Testament is built upon the Old. Let the picture show it. 
The first five books in both Testaments are alike in that they lay the 
foundations for the Old and New dispensations. It is easy to learn 
the names of these books if you take only one group at a time. And 
while you .are learning the groups, your mind is putting into the picture 
the meaning or significance of these groups and the relation they sustain 
to one another. In this way an ordinary child will not only learn the 
books of the Bible more quickly than by other methods, but he will 
learn at the s-ame time the general classification and meaning of all 
the books, which is infinitely more valuable. When these facts are 
once put into a definite, outstanding picture and hung on the walls 
of the memory of a pupil, all subsequent experiences of a stormy life- 
time can never take down the picture or erase its meaning. 

Studj' the picture on page 11 rand see how the books are wonderfully 
related to one another in their groupings as if the Spirit that brooded 
over the world in the beginning and "moved upon the waters" has 
through the centuries brooded over this structure and caused men to 
write and arrange the books for our intelligent use today. Twelve 
tribes of Israel, twelve books of history. If Matthias' election in Acts 
1:26 held good, then Paul was the 14th apostile. If Paul wrote the 
book of HebrcAvs, then there are also fourteen books to his credit. 
The Old Testament, conscious of a better day coming, dealt largely 
in prophecy. The New Testament, conscious of the end of time 
approaching, has only one book of prophecy, a book not yet fulfilled, 
a book wide open. 

Notice how every book of this chart as it stands in its place shows 
its number of chapters, its abbreviated name, and the number of words 
it contains in the Revised Version. It used to be customary, and is 

9 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



yet in some quarters, to measure the size of a book by the number 
of words it contains. 

It may be of little worth to know which is the largest and which 
the smallest book in the Bible. But it is better to know and be sure 
that you know, than to guess. Nine tenths of the people whom we 
have tested, have guessed the Psalms. But the book of Jeremiah 
has 301 words more than the Psalms. Il-John has only one word less 
than lll-John. Paul wrote more books than all of the other New 
Testament writers put together, but he did not write more words. 
Luke wrote as many words as did Paul, lacking only 746. Paul wrote 
less thian one-third of the New Testament. 

Now let us look into the Bible as a whole. If I were about to 
enter a strange forest, I certainly would want to keep the four points 
of the compass in mind in order to keep my bearings. 

Where will I be if I open my Bible exactly half way? Psalm 57:1. 
Where will I be if I open my Bible exactly V^ way? I-Sam 1:16. 
Where will I be if I open my Bible exactly % way? Jonah 2:14. 

By keeping these points in mind, it is easy with eyes closed to open 
the book near to the place you want to find. 



10 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



BIBLE STUDY HELPS 



Many young people do not know what helps are available for Bible 
study. 

(1) A Concordance. It may be had complete or abridged. If it 
is complete, it is necessarily a larger book than the Bible, for 
it contains every word of the Bible arranged alphabetically, 
showing the chapter, the verse and the sentence where it occurs. 
It is in substance an alphabetical index to the Bible whereby 
the student may find every word that he wishes to consider. 



(2) A Commentary. This is also a book much larger than the Bible 
and usually a set of books of a number of volumes. For it aims 
to print every verse of the Bible and explain its inner meaning. 
Naturally they differ from one another in the exposition of many 
texts, just as preachers do. Sometimes they have a distinctively 
denominational color or bias. There are many good commen- 
taries of immense value in explaining the Scriptures. It will 
be wise, however, to ask your pastor to recommend to you the 
one that you ought to buy. 

(3) A Bible Dictionary. It may be had in one volume or in several. 
It will give you a good account of every place of interest 
mentioned in the Bible, of every person, animal, flower, or sacred 
utensil, instrument of music, or weapon of war-fare. 



12 



THE JM B L E AS IT IS 



RECOGNIZED VERSIONS 

The invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century made 
it easy to get a copy of the Bible. Up to that time all copies had to 
be made by hand. Words could easily be dropped out or added in. 
Easily read copies, neatly written, accurate and seemly in appearance 
were very expensive. 

To meet the demand for religious literature and Bibles, the print- 
ing press was invented. But the invention wias accompanied with 
new difficulties. The original Bible was written in Hebrew and Greek 
and must therefore be translated into English and other languages. 
Every man could buy a printing press but not every man could 
translate the Hebrew and Greek. The harvest was ripe for big 
business, but quick action meiant any sort of translation that a printer 
could get. 

It was soon discovered that the printed Bibles differed widely from 
one another. No one knew which Bible to buy. Therefore James 
the First, king of Great Britain, France and Ireland, in the year 1606, 
called together fifty-four scholars, the best scholars in the world as 
he believed, and directed them to prepare a correct transliation. It 
took them five years to complete the task. When they submitted it 
to him, he authorized it to be published as the correct and duly author- 
ized version. It was so published in the year 1611, and has been known 
e^ er since as the King James Version or the Authorized Version. It 
is even yet the version that is in common use. 

In the year 1870, the Convocation of Canterbury expressed a desire 
to have a new translation made, believing that the original Hebrew 
and Greek ought to be translated into an up-to-date language rather 
than into the language of 1611; for the English language itself has 
changed considerably^ in three hundred years. Consequently a com- 
mittee of seventy-nine eminent scholars representing the leading 
religious denominations of England and America went to work at 
the task. It took them fourteen years. But they finished it and gave 
to the world in 1885 what has been known ever since as the Revised 
^''ersion. 

Among these seventy-nine scholars were a number of Americans 
who very well knev/ that many English words commonly used in 

13 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



America were possessed of a different meaning in America from that 
in England. American scholars also differed from their brethren in 
Europe in some matters of translation. They therefore reserved the 
right to publish their own tnanslation in due time. This they did in 
the year 1901 and it was called the Standard Version. 

In the English language these are the three versions recognized 
throughout the world. Other versions are printed and some of them 
are quite helpful and widely circulated, but in the very nature of the 
case none of them will ever have a national or international standing. 
They will pass away. But these three will remain for centuries to 
come. 

In the year 1555, Robert Stephens printed a Bible which he divided 
into chapters and verses so that one man could tell another precisely 
where to find any given text. Other printers quickly followed Stephens' 
invention. It seems unfortunate that Stepliens did not do this work 
more carefully while he was about it. For it is too late now to ever 
change it. The libraries of the whole world would have to be made 
o^ er if a change in Stephens' chapters and verses should now be made. 



14 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 

PERIOD I 

From the Creation to the Fall of Man 
Gen. 1:1 - 3:24 



I - THE CREATION. 

Xo one knows how long this period was. The scientist has as much 
right to say that these first days were ten thousand y&ars long as 
you have to say that they were twenty-four hours long. For neither 
of you has any right to fix the length where the Bible does not do it. 
The word "day" means more in the summer time than it does in the 
winter. In John 11:19 it means 12 hours; in Il-Pet. 3:8, it is spoken 
of as 1000 years; in John 8:56, it means about 2000 years; in Mark 
14:25, it probiably means all eternity. The word "day" means a period. 
How long is a period? In Gen. 1:5, it means light. How long was 
light, especially as it was then before the sun was created? 



II — THE GARDEN OF EDEN. 

No one knows how many thousands of square miles this garden 
included or whether it was destroyed before or during the Flood. 
It will be more real to us if we think of it as having ta definite location 
on this earthly soil. Otherwise it will fade out of memory like a 
fable or phantom and appear like la dream. In Gen. 2:14, we are told 
that the head of the Euphrates river was in it and the heads of three 
other rivers also. If you make the boundaries large enough, there is 
a place between the Black sea and the Caspian, at the head of the 
Euphrate river that corresponds to the Bible description. Why not 
then think of this spot as the probable location and thus give our 
minds the benefit, as the Scriptures so wisely permit us to do, of 
holding fast to something definite? The mind cannot retain lan in- 
definite thing. The imagination refuses to paint pictures on a canvas 
that the mind will not accept as real. To obtain the right kind of 
mental processes in Bible study, one must establish certain things as 
satisfactorily fixed. We prefer to think of the city of Nazareth of 
our Lord's childhood as exactly on the same site it now is. But if 
it cart be proved that the city was then one mile further up the valley 
than it now is, that does not afiPect our faith at all. We measure 
the distance from Nazareth to Jerusalem las the cities now stand. We 
are not going to bother to change the distance in all our records to 
meet the theory that we should add one mile, certainly not until the 

15 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



theory itself has been unquestionably proved. So we may say of the 
garden of Eden that if it has been so completely wiped out of existence 
as to be impossible of identification, and if we must think of it only 
as a visionary conception, what harm can it do to objectify even a 
visionary thing, especially when by doing so we can remember other 
situations better? 

Ill — THE GREAT TRANSGRESSIOX. 

Sin did not originate in the human race to which we belong. It 
was imported. Sin employs the most subtle agencies and delights in 
attacking the younger and more inexperienced members of the family. 
Strange suggestions and arguments are still whispered into the ears 
of men and women by the inhabitants of a foreign world who miay or 
ir.ay not be enemies of God. 

These first three chapters of Genesis tell us all that anyone on 
earth knows about our human race before it fell into sin. If there 
are marks on the earth that seem to date back to centuries before the 
time of which we tare thinking, it cannot be proved that those marks 
were made by a member of this human race to which we belong. 
Who knows how many kinds of human races have dwelt upon this 
earth before Adam was created? And if there were such, they may 
have been very much like us in miany ways. Our Bible does not tell 
us of them. We know not what they did, how they died nor where 
they went. Our Bible tells us only of how the race to which we belong 
was created, how it has progressed or deteriorated, and what the end 
is to be. And this is all that we need to know. 




16 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



BIBLE LANDS IN THEIR RELATION TO THE 
UNITED STATES 

The countries where the things mentioned in the Bible occured are 
sometimes spoken of as Bible Lands. Let us fix them in. mind so that 
we may know where they are, what relation they sustain to other 
countries, and especially their relation to the United States. 

If you could start from Augusta, Maine, and fly to these countries, 
your route would be directly east in a straight line for 5,712 miles. 
You would then be on top' of Mt. Ararat where, according to the 
tradations, the ark rested after the flood. Continuing eastward until 
you have completed your 6,000 miles, you will be hovering above the 
Caspian sea, looking down into its waters. 

At this point, if you will turn southward and fly in a straight line 
1,400 miles, you will then be hovering over the Persian Gulf, close 
to the Arabian coast. 

Turn now to the setting sun and fly straight tovv^ards America and 
you will arrive in Florida, near Key West. You will have passed 
completely around all the places of interest mentioned in the Bible. 
They are all on the farther side of the Atlantic ocean, and directly 
east from the L^nited States. 

In taking this journey you will pass exactly half way between 
Madrid, the capital of Spain, and Paris, the capital of France. You 
will not see London or any part of England, for they are too far 
north. From Mt. Ararat you will see the land of Armenia, where 
some think the garden of Eden used to be. As you go sou!:h from the 
Caspian sea to the Persian Gulf you will see the rivers Euphrates 
and Tigris, frequently mentioned in the Scriptures. You will also 
see the places where the cities of Babylon and Nineveh once stood. 
And in your homeward flJght you will pass over the Red Sea, which 
the children of Israel crossed in their flight from Pharaoh. You will 
fly across Egypt and the great desert of Sahara. You will have passed 
completely around the Mediterranean sea without getting a glimpse 
of Rome, Athens, Constantinople, Jerusalem, Alexandria, cities that 
have moved the world mightily for thousands of years. You will have 
seen on this journey only a small part of the earth, but it is the part 
which has done a hundred times more for the world than all the rest 
put toeether. 

EXERCISES 

Color this map using colored lead pencils or crayolas. America in 
red, waters in blue, deserts in yellow, the coasts of Spain and Africa 
in black, Bible lands in green, other countries as you pleiase. 

How many books in the Old Covenant? In the New? How many 
historical books? Poetical? Major Prophets? Minor Prophets? 
What chapter divides the Bible in half? Where does the flrst quarter 
end? Where the third quarter? In which quarter of the Bible is 
Joel? Amos? Titus? Nehemiah? Joshua? Ruth? Philemon? 
Name the three recognized versions of the Bible. Who divided it 
into chapters and verses? For what purpose? 

Name three books most helpful in Bible study? What do they do.- 
Which is the largest book in the Bible? The smallest? 

18 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



PERIOD II 

1655 years 

From the Fall of Man to the Flood. 

Gen. 4:1 - 8:14 



I — AS TO POPULATION. 

In Gen. 5:4', we are told that Adam lived 930 years and "begat 
sons and daughters." Nobody knows how many children were born 
to him. The record tells us a little something of three of them, Cain, 
Abel and Seth. We know very well, however, that the human race 
can even yet easily double itself every twenty-five years if there 
were no losses by death. The losses by death would seem to have 
been few in the days of which we are now studying. If we do not 
count Abel and Enoch, who were prematurely removed, the average 
life of those whose record vv^e have in the Bible was 816 years during 
this period. Count it up for yourself by doubling the population 
every twenty-five years and you will find that at Adams' death the 
population of the earth might have been 254,877,906,944 or about one 
hundred times more than the pcpulation of the world is now. Why 
then ask the foolish question so often asked every where as to where 
Cain got his wife? If he did not marry until he was la middle aged 
man, there were doubtless millions of women in the world for him 
to approach. 

II — AS TO CHRONOLOGY. 

The Bible gives us some dates but it does not even try to give us 
all the dates and we do not know how to bridge over the vacant places. 
For instance, how old was Adam when he fell into sin or when he 
was driven out of the garden? Did he count his years from the day 
he sinned or from the day he was made? If we knew for* certain that 
he dated his years from the day he sinned, then we might know for 
certain that there were exactly 1656 years from the Fall of man to 
the Flood. For the Bible tells us that Adam wias 130 years old when 
Seth was born, Seth 105 when Enos was born, Enos 90 when Cainan 
was born, Cainan 70 when Mahalaleel was born, Mahalaleel 65 when 
Jared was born, Jiared 162 when Enoch was born, Enoch 65 when 
Methuselah was born, Methuselah 187 when Lamech was born, Lamech 
182 when Noah was born, and Noah 600 years old when the Flood 
came. The sum of these years is 1656. But if Adam was 100 years 

19 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



old before he fell into sin, then our dates are all wrong. 

When the Authorized Version was printed the preacher in Oxford 
where it was printed was Archbishop James Ussher, Primate of Ireland, 
the best authority then living on Bible dates. The printers accepted 
the dates that he gave them and these are the dates that you see 
printed in the Oxford Teacher's Bibles to this day. His dates are 
probably not correct, neither are the dates of anyone else who has 
figured them out since then. But we really need to have in mind an 
approximately definite date if we want our minds to serve us well in 
remembering the situations or even imagining them. As Ussher's dates 
are alre.ady printed in many Bibles, we will honor him for being the 
first and only one to get his dates accepted in a recognized version. 
They will serve our purpose of giving the mind a definite thing to 
grasp and that is the important thing we want to get. But when you 
are ready to give special consideration to some definite portion of 
Scripture where accuracy in dates is important, you are advised to 
consult other authorities and to make such amendments in the dates 
as the evidence may suggest. 

ill — AS TO GENEALOGY. 

In the Hebrew language the same words translated ' son of" mean 
"descendant of." Jesus was the ' son of" David in the sense thiat He 
was a descendant of David. In the genealogies therefore given us 
in the Bible we must bear this in mind. And we must remember also 
that the record of women w^as not often published, neither the record 
of the wicked nor of anv but the heir. 




20 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



EXERCISES 

These lessons are expected to be one hour in length. More than 
half of the hour, however, should be spent in practicing the principles 
underlying this method of study. Assuming that a class of forty 
pupils is before me, I will ask each of you to hold up your closed 
Bibles so that I may see them. Now open them quickly to the 57th 
Psalm, first verse. As soon as you have found it stand up and begin 
to read. 

The fact that you are reading it, shovs that you are not bluffing. 
When half of you have found it, we will not embarrass the other half 
by waiting for them. 

Now find for me the same way, Ruth 1:16; John 1-5:17; Prov. 2:10; 
Jonah 1:2; Heb. 2:1; Joshua 1:9. 

(Note: Let the teacher suggest a dozen or more other references 
that are not given here in print so as to drill the class thoroughly 
in the knowledge of where the books of the Bible are in their relation 
to one another. The rivalry to get there first, or at least to get in 
with the crowd that stands up, will prove a powerful aid and stimulus 
to compel the learning of the books cf the Bible.) 



Now find for me the (account of the serpent tempting Eve; of Noah 
sending forth a dove; of the creation rf animals; of the building of 
the ark; of the death of Abel; of Methuselah. 

(Note: The finding of these last six references introduces the mental 
processes that are fundamental to this course of study. For in every 
case the mind of the pupil should be trained to consider first the 
probable place where it occured; secondly, the approximate time; 
and thirdly, that portion of the Bible which covers this place and 
time. In looking up the first of these six references, therefore, the 
mind of the pupil should silently say to itself: (1) This happened 
in the garden of Eden. (2) It happened just before the Fall of Man. 
(3) It must therefore be in the third chapter of Genesis. In the 
second question: (1) It happened in the ark. (2) It happened just 
before the waters were dried up. (3) It must be in the eighth chap- 
ter of Genesis.) 



Color the foregoing map so that Mesopotamia and Chaldea will 
stand out conspicuously. See page 26. Color Assyria east of the Tigris 
and north of Haran, red; Asia, brown; deserts, yellow, waters, blue. 
Put Nineveh on this map. Look into a Bible Dictionary and see where 
it should be placed. 

22 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



PERIOD III 

427 Years 

From the Flood to the Call of Abraham. 

Genesis 8:15 - 12:5 



I — AS TO LONGEVITY. 

It stands to reason that such a flood of waters as that described 
in the seventh chapter of Genesis may have changed the atmosphere 
of the whole world. No man can say what new germs or bacteria 
were developed or created then. The record shows us that the life- 
time of man on the earth was never again h!alf so long as it was before. 
It is possible that millions of germs live in the atmosphere as we now 
have it which could not or did not live in the atmosphere before the 
flood. In those days the atmosphere may have been sterilized and pure 
so that even grape juice would not ferment. After the flood, righteous 
Noah drank wine and became drunk. There is no intimation that he 
ever did it the second time. Possibly he would not have done so this 
first time, if during all the six hundred j^ears of his life he had ever 
before discovered anything intoxicating. He had often drank wine 
before without embarrassment. 

The atmosphere as we now have it is a mixture of about one-fifth 
oxygen and four-fifths nitrogen, with traces of other gasses inter- 
mixed. If these proportions were reversed for thirty days, not>a man 
would be alive. Did Noah ever see a rainbow before the flood? That 
'depends on how the atmosphere before the flood was constituted. May 
it not be possible that when God put the rainbow in the sky after the 
flood as the token of His convenant with Nciah, it was the same as to 
say, "I will no more change the atmosphere of the world. I will keep 
it forever as it now is, even though the task be difficult. When you 
see a rainbow you may know that the atmosphere is still mixed in 
the same proportions as it was immediately after the flood, else a nain- 
bow could not exist." 

II - AS TO LANGUAGE. 

A lighthouse cannot save a sinking ship, but it can direct a ship how 
to keep from sinking. A high tower in a great plain might enable us 
to know where the center of population is. But the tower itself can- 
not save men lafter it has brought them together. Men of different 

23 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



languages do not greatly^ enjoy being together. God wanted men to 
subdue the whole earth and live in every land. By "confounding their 
language," the tendency to keep together was gone and their tendency 
to scatter over the world in smaller groups was promoted. The origin 
and purpose of many languages lare briefly described in Genesis eleven. 
Their tower was never finished, buts its name. Babel, and the city of 
Babylon which was formed around it, has been as a lighthouse to the 
M'Orld ever since warning mankind of the wrecks and dangers in human 
history. 

Ill — AS TO CASTE. 

Nciah discriminated between his three sons in a most remarkable 
manner. Their very names would seem to signify that Shem was to 
be the father of distingushed people, Japheth of the common people, 
and Ham of servants. The world is still made up of these three classes 
of people. Can it be possible ever to have social equality? 

Our memories delight in round numbers. \"e might therefore say 
that between the Fall of Man land the Call of Abraham was a period 
of two thousand years; between Abraham and the coming of Christ 
2000 years; between the Birth of Christ and this present day, 2000 
vears. 




24 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



CANAAN IN ITS RELATION TO OTHER COUNTRIES 

It is only about 500 miles from Jerusalem to Babylon in a straight 
line eastward. But no one ever goes that way because of the great 
Arabian desert. The route goes north near the sea of Galilee and the 
city of Damasus, thence around or across the desert to the Euphrates 
river, a distance of about 900 miles. Ur of the Chaldees, from which 
place Abraham was called into the land of Canaan, is on the south 
side of the Euphrates river, about 120 miles from the Persian Gulf. 
From this place Abraham went to Haran, some 500 miles northwest, 
and in that beautiful place he tarried until called again to Canjaan. 
Then he went from Haran to Shechem, about 540 miles southwest, 
and he was then in the land which God had promised him. 

From Shechem he continued to the south to Beersheba, 85 miles 
and finally he went down into Egypt, probably to Memphis, 200 miles 
distant, by the route near the coast. From Jerusalem Memphis is 
about 285 miles, Hebron 20, Shechem 35, Damascus 130; Jericho 18; 
Bethel 15, the Dead sea 15. 

Mesopotamia was the land in between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. 
Babylonia wias a district along the Euphrates river around Babylon, 
and Chaldea was the southern part of Babylonia. Assyria was the 
country north of Mesopotamia, which eventually conquered the south- 
ern countries and gave its name to the whole territory. Between 
Assyria and Canaan around Damascus was a territory known as Syria, 
which at one time became a strong empire. 

The Arabian peninsula is 1,400 miles long from north to south, about 
1,300 miles wide at its southern boundry at the Indian ocean, and 
about 750 miles wide between the Persian Gulf and the Jordan river. 
The peninsula is mostly desert. It has mountains, hills, and shifting 
sands with oases here and there. 

The desert of Et Tih is not a desert of sand but o£ gravel and flint. 
It is uneven in surface and extends about 150 miles north and south, 
and 150 miles cast and west. The land of Canaan is bounded on the 
west by the Mediterranean sea, which is 2,320 miles long from east 
to west and 1,080 wide at its widest. The land east of the Jordan 
and west of the Arabian desert is called Gilead. North of Canaan 
is Phoenicia, on the seacoast running back into the mountains of 
Lebanon. It has been said that these Phoenicians first taught the world 
letters and invented the art of making glass and dj^es. 

Color the foregoing map so as to make Canaan an Ur of the Chial- 
dees prominent. With red ink or pencil make the foot-prints of 
Abraham from Ur of the Chaldees to Haran, just as our cartoonist 
has made them in black for the Israelites from Mt. Sinai to Kadesh- 
barnea. Abraham probably crossed the Euphrates river at Babylon 
wh°re there were bridges. Then likewise trace Abraham's journey 
to Shechem. He probably went through Damascus, for from that city 
he rbtained Eliezer, the stewiard of his house. Gen. 15:2. From 
Shechem trace his foot-steps to Hebroti. 

(After this lesson the teacher should question the class as was done 

on page 22, calling for at least 20 or 30 references.) 

26 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



PERIOD IV 

215 Years 

From the Call of Abraham to the Descent into Egypt. 

Genesis 12:6 - 47:26 



I — A NEW COUNTRY. 

This new country to which Abraham went has been for centuries 
called the Holy liand, Canaan, or Palestine. It is the most wonderful 
land in the world, a garden of Eden when properly cultivated. For 
a land of so much importance it is remarkably small in territory, 
only about 50 miles wide by 150 long. It is hedged about by fenses 
of God's own making and is itself a miniature world. It is a miniature 
world because almost every kind of animal, bird, flower or fruit-tree 
grows there. It has rivers, lakes, mountains and plains. It's climate 
varies from perpetual snow on Mt. Hermon, to tropical heat in the 
Jordan valley. An army might enter it from the north through the 
narrow valleys between high mountains where God has left open a 
gateway. But on the east 'a great desert of ever shifting sand averaging 
more then 1000 miles wide is God's everlasting, insurmountable fense 
to protect this land against the hordes of the east. On the south is 
the desert of Et Tih or Sinai. On the west is the Mediterranean Sea 
more than 1000 miles wide is God's everlasting, insurmountable fense 
too dangerous for a battleship to anchor near. 

II — A NEW PROPOSITION. 

Into this new garden of Eden God called Abraham to make to him 
a new proposition whereby he would become the "father of the faith- 
ful" and his descendants, "God's chosen people." God gave to him 
and to his wife new names, filled their spirits with a new hope and 
kindled in them a new ambition. But Abrahtam back-slid into Egypt 
and then his troubles began. "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall 
he also reap" was as true in those days as it is now. After severe 
discipline, however, Abraham recovered himself, proved faithful, 
believed God and obtained the promises. 

III — A NEW REVELATION. 

The fear of God, at the first, Abraham did not seem to know. There 
is no record that he had ever seen the manifestation of God's wrath, 

27 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



until he went into Egypt, returned to Canaan and wanted proof of 
God's veracity. (Gen. 15:8) The contamination of Egypt had evidently 
gone bad with him land with I^ot. Immediately upon his return from 
Egypt, Lot separated himself from Abraham and "pitched his tent 
toward Sodom" because it was "like the land of Egypt." The captivity 
of Lot and the overthrow of Sodom taught both of them something 
of what God's wrath means. Sarah proposed her Egyptian hiandmaid 
as a concubine for Abraham, a custom she had probably learned in 
Egypt, and a transaction which brought polygamy into Abraham's 
home, a crime for which all of their descendants suffered agony. Out 
of this situation grew the complications, distresses and heart-aches 
that eventually brought all of Sarah's descendants into Egyptian 
bondage. 

All the rest of the book of Genesis, from chapters 13 to 50, are 
written to show us how sin does not pay and how righteousness is 
rewarded. The illustrations are the interesting characters of that age: 
Abraham, Sarah, Hagar, Ishmael; Isaac; Rebekah; Jacob; Esau; Laban; 
Rachel; Leah; Joseph and his brethren. All these biographies are 
written up in chronological order in these forty-seven chapters. 




28 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



EXERCISES 



Color the foregoing map making the river Nile blue, and a little 
strip of land on both sides of the Nile, green. The coast also from 
Canaan to Egjpt should have a narrow border of green. Make the 
tracks of Jacob identical with those of Abraham going down into 
Egypt. Start from Hebron to the coast, thence along the coast to the 
Nile, thence up the Nile to Memphis where the Pharaohs resided. 
Eg5T)t is the valley of the river Nile with great deserts on both sides 
of the valley. At the mouth of the Nile (there are several mouths) is 
the delta in the shape of a triangle with about 150 miles to each side 
of the triangle. Near the apex of this triangle is w^here the pyramids 
are, where the sphinx is, and where modern Carlo is, 12 miles north 
of the ancient site of Memphis. From the apex of this triangle near 
the pyramids, the valley of the Nile is perhaps an average of two miles 
wide on either side of the river for a thousand miles up stream. 

(With Bibles in hand, let us turn quickly to some important text: 
AVhen you have found it, stand up and read it, that you may have 
credit for finding each text as I call for it.) 

Rosea 4:1; Habakkuk 1:1; Amos 5:14-; Malachi 3:18; Micah 6:1. 
(If you have had trouble in finding these it is probably because 
you do not remember the order in which these books come. It is 
easy to remember the order if you will divide the books into four 
lines, three books to a line. Henry Ward Beecher, Caroline Atwater 
Mason are familiar names with three divisions each. Why not just 
as easily remember four other names? 

Hosea Joel Amos; 
Obadiah Jonah Micah; 
Nfahum Habakkuk Zephaniah; 
Zechariah Haggai Malachi. 

Try and see how easy it is to remember in this way the four groups.) 

Find the story of Rebekah at the well; of Joseph being sold into 

Egypt; of the tower of Babel; of Sanah's death; of Jacob's ladder; 

of the seven year's famine in Egypt; of Ishmael; of Melchisedek; of 
the destruction of Sodom; of the tree of life. 

30 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



PERIOD V 

215 Years 

From the Descent into Egypt to the Exodus. 

Gen. 47:27 - Exodus 15:22 

I — AN ERA OF PROSPERITY. 

An era of prosperity often precedes an era of depression and slavery. 
In Gen. 15:13 this era of affliction is spoken of as 400 years. In God's 
sight the years 1914 to 1918 when the prosperity of America was 
at its height may have been just as unfortunate for America as the 
years of depression that have followed. God may have dated the 
affliction falling upon Abraham's posterity from the time Abraham 
went down into Egypt instead of the time Jacob went down nearly 
200 years later. We are not questioning God's dates, but we are 
explaining our dates. For we who can see only on the surface are 
accustomed to date this sojourn in Egypt from the time Jacob went 
down. This era of prosperity seems to have lasted as long as Joseph 
lived, which was 77 years. They were assigned the land of Goshen 
which was a small fertile country on the east border of the delta. 
There Jacob died and his body was embalmed after the manner of 
the Egyptians. (Gen. 50:2)- A great funeral procession was gathered 
to carry the body of Jacob, now called Israel, back to the land of 
Canaan and bury it in the cave of M'achpelah at Hebron with Abraham 
and Isaac. 

II — AN ERA OF OBSCURITY. 

Joseph lived about 60 3-ears after his father died. During all that 
time while he had influence at court, his brethren doubtless fared well. 
His heart, however, was not in Egypt. He nuade his brethren solemnly 
promise to carry his bones to Canaan when in future years their 
inevitable exodus would come. (Gen. 50:24-26) . More than a century 
passed before the exodus came, and when they left, they left in a great 
hurry, but they did not forget to carry with them the bones of Joseph. 
(Ex. 13:19). Why these two men of God did not wish their bodies 
to be buried in Egypt is a proper question. See what the best com- 
mentaries hiave to say. Also trace on map, page 29, the probable route 
that was taken by the greatest funeral procession of that century 
when Jacob's body was taken to Hebron. In doing so, remember that 
a large company cannot go by as direct a route as a small company; 
and that Joseph being a royal personage accompanied by court officials 

31 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



may have bad to take a very circuitous route in order to pay his 
respects to the governments through whose domains he passed. He 
may have avoided unfriendly governments along the sea coast and 
preferred to greet the kings "beyond Jordan." 

HI — AN ERA OF DELIVERANCE. 

The twelve sons of Jacob became the heads of twelve families. 
These families multiplied and were called tribes. It was the intention 
of Jacob to give to Joseph a double portion of the paternal blessing 
which it was his privilege to bestow upon his children. In those days 
a loyal son considered it a greater honor to have the blessing of his 
father upon his head than to have a fortune, like Esiau, without the 
blessing. In order to do this diplomatically, Jacob resolved to give 
to each of Joseph's two children a full measure of his blessing. There- 
fore he called for Ephraim and Manasseh and made each one the head 
of a tribe. They were, however, born in Egypt land they never quite 
got over their Egyptian idolatry. 

The book of Exodus begins with an account of the birth of Moses. 
In after years, Moses fled to the wilderness-. Trace his footsteps on 
the map, page 35. From this place of retirement, God called him, 
at eighty years of age, to deliver Israel. In the history of the world 
there is no other record of a deliverance so remarkable as that which 
Moses brought about without a sword or spear in his hand. The first 
fifteen chapters of the book of Exodus tell us the whole story with a 
thrilling account of the ten plagues of Egypt. 




THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



PERIOD VI 

iO Years 

From the Exodus to the Death of Moses. 

Exodus 15:23 - — Leviticus — Numbers — Deuteronomy. 

This period is the shortest but the most important of any we have 
yet studied. One book only was required to give us man's history 
for the first 2500 years. Four books were then required for the next 
forty years. The leading events are clustered around three places. 

I — MOUNT SINAI. 

Precisely two months after the Israelites left Egypt, they went into 
camp at Mt. Sinai. (Ex. 12:18 & 19:1)) They had'traveled 150 miles, 
crossed the Red Sea, fought a great battle at Rephidim and established 
themselves in the desert. Immediately upon reaching Mt. Sinai, God 
gave them the Ten Commandments and let them go into camp for 
eleven months that they might have time to construct the Tabernacle, 
take a cesus and be ready for a quick move into Canaan. 

The waters of Marah had been made sweet for them, quails and 
manna had been given to feed them, a pillar of cloud by day and of 
fire by night was always present to lead them, and yet they fell into 
sin, worshipped a golden calf and provoked the wrath of God. With 
the construction of the tabernacle, the book of Exodus ends. 

Moses then wrote another book, Leviticus by name, giving in detail 
the laws that were thereafter to govern Israel. He closed that book 
with a wonderful climax on giving and the law of tithing. 

When he was ready to launch his great military drive toward Canaan, 
he carefully assigned to every tribe its particular place in the forward 
march. The census showed more than 600,000 soldiers ready for war, 
twenty years old and upwards. (Num. 2:46) . It is evident therefore 
that including children, women and non-combatants there must have 
been at least five million people in the procession. It was a time for 
emphasizing and taking an accurate account of numbers. The book 
describing these movements has therefore been called Numbers. 

He observed the first anniversary of the Passover with appropriate 
ceremonies. In 36 days more he had every man drilled and ready for 
the place and responsibility assigned to him. The cloud lifted from 
the Tabernacle and foward they went. 

II — KADESH - BARNEA. 

From Mt. Siniai straight north 140 miles to Kadesh-Barnea they 
marched. The diary of their 21 days of travel is given in Num. 33; 
but their Sabbaths and rest-days are not recorded (Num. 9:22 & 
12:15). The first twelve chapters of the book of Numbers tell us the 
story of this wonderful drive including their murmurings, jealousies 
and troubles while on the march. People are never altogether pleased 

33 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



with the parts assigned to them. Even Aaron \and Miriam, brother and 
sister of Moses, challenged the supremacy of Moses' authority. Family 
troubles are always humiliating. Miriam was disgraced. (Num. 12). 

At Kadesh-Barnea they went into camp. The people insisted on 
sending spies to search out the land before attacking Canaan. (Deut 
1:22) Ten out of the twelve spies reported it an impossibility to 
conquer that people. That unfavorable report stirred up the spirit 
of rebellion. They refused to go further. They threatened to depose 
Moses and Aaron ^and elect other captains to lead them. Korah, Datham, 
and Abiram organized la company of 250 prominent men (Num.l6:3) 
to challenge Moses' supremacy. They exalted their own ability and 
worthiness to lead the people. Moses accepted the challenge and 
called upon God to show the divine hand before all the people. The 
earth opened suddenly and swallowed up this organized rebellion. 
Aaron's rod blossomed. Never again was the authority of Moses 
questioned. This personal victory of Moses may have been too great 
for him to stand with equanimity. He soon became too autocratic and 
spoke to the people roughly. He smote the rock when he should only 
have spoken to it. This costly mistake humbled his spirit, hurt his 
ambition and filled his life with disappointments. Firery serpents got 
in his way, kings refused permission for him to go through their 
countries, and he was forced to fall back toward Mt. Sinai and go 
around the Araban of the Dead Sea. He then stretched his forces 
northward between the desert and the mountains east of the Jordan 
valley until he could strike Canaan amidships at Jericho. This re- 
quired 38 more years of wandernig in the wilderness. 

Ill — MOUNT NEBO. 

BaLak, king of the Moabites, disliked the looks of things when he 
saw from the tops of the mountains the camps of five million Israelites 
swooping down upon his kingdom in the direction of Jericho. There- 
fore he sent to Pethor in Mesopotamia for the prophet Balaam to come 
and curse Israel. He believed that Balaam had some mysterious control 
over the spirit world. Balaam came singing, "Let me die the death 
of the righteous and let my last end be like his." He could not see 
the way clear to curse Isnael, but he thought he was very shrewd when 
he told the king how to make Israel sin and thereby curse themselves. 
The king, he thought, might find a pretext for sending friendly and 
beautiful young women over to the camp of Israel whose real purpose 
should be to tempt the men to sin so that God might punish the sinners. 
(Num. 31:16). The Moabites were a degraded people, but they were 
not mean enough to do this thing. The Midianites however thought 
it a good scheme and worked it successfully. For the awful sin of 
making this suggestion Balaam died the death of a dog instead of 
the righteous. (Num. 31:8). And for this offense, Moses slew all the 
women as well as men of the whole Midianite country that all men 
might know that " the wages of sin is death." 

Israel was now ready to strike Canaan. The high command was 
turned over to Joshua. Moses finished writing the book of Deuteronomy 
in which he rehearsed the great things God had done through him. 
He urged all the people as soon as they should get into Canaan to go to 
Shechem and hold a great consecration service. (Deut. 27:1 - 31:6) 
He then bade them farewell, went up the mountain of Nebo to the 
high peak, Pisg-ah, viewed the land of Canaan, and died. 

34 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



EXERCISES 

After each lesson the teacher is expected to call for a number of 
references and the class to turn to the chapters or verse asked for. 
The class should be drilled in this until the Bible is familiar to every 
one. A child studying a music lesson on the piano, at first finds the 
keys with difficulty and the touch is awkward. But after pnacticing 
a while that same child finds the proper keys without any effort at 
all, and presses them down with a touch that is artistic. Many people 
read their Bibles, here a little and there a little. But they hiave 
never gotten right down to business and looked up a dozen references 
in their lives. Consequently the Book does not open itself to them. 

When the teacher wishes the class to turn to a given incident, story, 
or narative, it is a good plan to call for such things as are in the 
headlines of the Book. Those headlines tare usually the most important 
events described on those pages. It is also a good plan to call for 
such events in the order of their record for a while until the class 
is sufficiently advanced to cross easily from one Period to another. 

The pupils ought to read these lessons over and over again in this 
book until the order of events sticks tight in their memories. Then 
they ought to retad the account in the Bible itself so that all the details 
of the record may have a chance to get in on the ground floor of 
their minds. Once they get in and are nailed down by these exercises, 
they will never be forgotten either in this world or in eternity. 

If, for instance, you learn this lesson well, when you see Moses in 
heaven, you will have something to talk to him about and you will 
be interested in all that these five bocks have told us. 

Find for me in half a minute the original law of tithing. Find the 
account of the worship of the golden calf. Find the ten plagues of 
Egypt. Find for me where it was that Jacob first met Rachel, and 
where Isaac first met Rebekah. 

From what city did Balaam come to Balak? Whom did Joseph 
miarry? To what king did Abraham pay tithes? Where did Aaron 
die? Who was Noah's father? How did Enoch depart this life? 
Where is it said that while the earth remaineth, seed-time and harvest, 
summer and winter and day and night shiall not cease? 

Find all these answers. For in the finding of them, certain mental 
processes will develop that are valuable indeed when once they are 
full grown. 

Trace on the map the tracks of Balaam on his journey to Balak. 

3G 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



PERIOD VII 

56 Years 

From the Death of Moses to the Judges. 

Joshua 1:1 - Judges 3:8 

We might well consider the first two chapters of the book of Judges 
as an introduction to that book. This would leave the book of Joshua 
as the one book to tell us the whole story of this Period. Joshua was 
a soldier, a military m.an from his youth up. He saw everything 
through military eyes. When God wished to speak to him about his 
first great conflict in Canaan, He appeared to Joshua in the uniform 
of a military officer. (Josh. 5:14) And in that form Joshua quickly 
understood God's message. 

I — THE ISRAELITES UNDER JOSHUA. 

No mian ever had so many victories, such complete victories and 
such startling victories as Joshua won. Thirty-one kings cast their 
crowns at his feet. (Josh. 12:24) At his approach, the river Jordan 
held back its waters that he might cross over on dry land, and the 
walls of Jericho fell down of their own accord that he might take the 
city. This proceeding struck terror to all the kings of Canaan. But 
they rejoiced with a new hope when the men of Ai triumphantly re- 
pulsed the attack which Joshua made on their city. The temporary 
defeat, however, was followed so quickly by such a startling and 
overwhelming victory that the kings cf all the countries round about 
proceeded with all possible haste to rally themselves together in a 
confederacy against him. 

Joshua, however, seemingly unafraid and not even excited, calmly 
proceeded to Shechem, as Moses had commanded him, and there held 
the greatest crnsecration service in all history. (Josh, 8:30-35; Deut, 
27:1 - 31:6) There at Shechem in a valley between the mountains of 
Gerizim and Ebal, is a natural, out-of-doors auditorium in which five 
million people can easily be seated and hear every word spoken by a 
priest on either mountain. 

The men of Gibeoh, fearing for their lives, made haste to get into 
the good graces of Joshua. They formed with him a league of nations 
on a small scale by which they were to be protected. The neighboring 
kings were insulted by this unseemly alliance. And for this offense 
to them the king of Jerusalem organized another alliance of a similar 
sort with four other kings to make war on Gibeon and wipe Gibeon off 
the map. The Gibeonites ^appealed to Joshua for help (Josh. 10:6) 
and the great soldier came against the opposing alliance like a whirl- 
wind from the desert calling upon the sun to stand still on Gibeon 
until he could show these allied kings that there is a God in Israel. 
He utterly lannihilated their armies and thereby made Israel strong in 
the very heart of Canaan. 

37 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



This great victory excited the kings of the north until they were 
frantic with fear. Jabin, king of Hazor, proceeded with all possible 
speed to get together all the kings and armies possible in a united 
effort to defeat Joshua. He assembled such a multitude of troops that 
they appeared to him as "the sand of the sea" with horses and chariots 
very many. (Josh. 11:4) Confident of their superior strength, they 
were leisurely admiring themselves and making ready to drive Joshua 
back into the desert when to their great surprise and consternation 
Joshua suddenly swooped down upon them in the night (Josh. 11:7) 
^nd smote them with a terrible slaughter. Joshua then divided all their 
lands among the tribes of Israel as Moses had commanded. 

II — ISRAELITES UNDER THE ELDERS. 

Joshua died at 110 years of age, having divided the land, having set 
up the Tabernacle at Shiioh, (Josh. 18:1) and having held a final con- 
secretation service in Shechem (Josh. 24). He made no provision for 
his successor, and no outward provision for a strong central govern- 
ment. Heretofore the children of Israel were in a compact body, 
under constant discipline, expert in military adventures. But now these 
five millions of people were scattered over ten thousand square miles 
and they were no longer being fed with manna nor led by a pillar of 
cloud. They were constructing their homes, tilling the soil and beating 
their swords into plow-shares. The elders of Israel who had for many 
years been associated with Joshua, men after Joshua's own heart, were 
able to rule well while they lived. (Josh. 24:31). Their successors, 
however, utterly failed. 

HI — THE ISRAELITES UNDER CUSHAN-RISHATHAIM. 

The record tells us that Cushan-rishathaim, king of Mesopotamia, 
conquered these tribes and held them in servitude for eight jears, and 
that it came about as a punishment for their sins. AVe can readily see 
that this was a logical conclusion. God had provided for these people 
a strong central government in a united brotherhood around the 
Tabernacle as the center or capital. If they had obeyed the laws laid 
down b}' Moses for them in the book of Leviticus, they would have 
brought their brunt offerings, their tithes, and their common experiences 
together continuously. vShiloh, where their place of worship was, would 
have been the clearing house for all their troubles, their House of 
Commons for debating all their propositions, the storm center for 
developing all their heroes. 

When every man devoted all of his time to building his own house 
and tending his own farm, when he refused to pay his tithe any longer 
and to give attention to public worship, when every man began to look 
out for himself and every tribe for itself, they quickly found that 
"United, we stand; divided we fall." When a man substitutes something 
else for public worship, his captivity cometh soon. No matter what 
whim or idol it is, nor how up-to-date it may seem. The automobile 
ride, the Sunday newspaper, the listening-in to the radio-phone and the 
wonderful wireless communications, all of them, any of them substi- 
tuted for the Tabernacle services, the public worship, the consecrated 
giving, the face to face fellowship, will bring quick submission and 
costly tribute to a heathen king. Sure enough, Israel went into 
captivity because of sin. 

38 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



PERIOD VIII 

300 Years 

From the First of the Judges to the Kings. 

Judges 3:9 - Ruth 1 - Samuel 8:22 

1 — THE COXNECTIXG LINKS. 

The twelve tribes of Israel numbering less than twelve million souls 
were scattered now over the mountains and plains of ten thousand 
square miles of territory. There were no newspapers, telephones, 
rapid transit nor modern appliances for keeping them in touch with one 
ianother. God's plan was to speak to them through the Tabernacle 
services in Shiloh, and to have them come together there in great 
conventions, or feast days, and thus keep together a united brotherhood 
in close touch, sympathy and fellowship with one another. "Whenever 
religious enthusiasm ran low and public worship was neglected, the 
tie that bound them together was weakened. And in proportion as 
they became strangers to one another, their interest in the common 
welfare faded away in favor of every tribe for itself. Intermarriage 
with heathen families followed as a matter of course and the worship 
of other gods crept into their scattered, country homes. (This reads 
like a twentieth century story of apostasy in many Xew England homes 
tcday.) God who is wonderfully rich in mercy toward His erring 
creatures, saw them sinking like drowning men in the undertow of these 
social entanglements, and He then raised uj) heroes to rescue them. 
These deliverers were called judges or saviours. (Judges 2:1() & Neh. 
9:27) . But these judges were not in any wise related to one another. 
In fact, God seems to have selected them from different tribes and 
from different ranks of families on purpose to teach the people that 
the special abilities and successes which they had were gifts of God 
and not a development or outgrowth of inheritance and education. The 
splendor of their attainments in every case is shown to be in proportion 
to their piety and consecration. There were fifteen of them in all 
and one of them, one of the greatest of them, was la woman. 

II - - SENSATIONAL VICTORIES. 

The most sensational stories ever written were recorded during this 
Period. No parent should fail to tell his child all about them. It is 
well to know the names of these judges, the order in which they came 
and the fact that they did not immediately succeed one another so 
that we cannot measure the yeiars they ruled. We do not need to 
remember all of their names except for purposes of reference, but we 
should be very familiar with Othniel, Deborah, Gideon, Jephthah, 
Samson, Eli, and Samuel. 

Othniel, the son-in-law of Caleb, was the first judge. Caleb was 
famous forty years under Moses. At eighty-five years of age, this old 

39 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



hero begged for the privilege of leading an army against the giants 
that everybody else was afraid of. (Josh. 14:12). Kirjath-sepher was 
the one place most difficult of all for Caleb to conquer, Othniel was 
the young nuan who took that stronghold in battle and won such glory 
that Caleb gave him his daughter to wife. All Israel heard of it and 
he became the most idolized young hero in all Palestine. Consequently 
when the king of Mesopotamia took Israel captive, everybody turned 
to him for help. The knowledge that he w^ould lead the army set fire 
to the enthusiasm of the whole twelve tribes land they easily regained 
their independence and sovereignty. Chapters 4 and 5 tell us of 
Deborah going against Sisera, a woman fighting for what seemingly 
was an impossible attainment. But a storm came up, the river Kishon 
overflowed its banks and swept the enemy away while his chariots of 
iron stuck in the mud (Judges 5:21) . Chapters 6 - S tell us of Gideon's 
band and their great deliverance wherein the hand of God is clearly 
seen. The foolish vow of a great soldier is told us in chapter 11, And 
the foolish conduct of the strongest man that ever lived whn hej leaned 
on his own strength instead of on God, is told in detail in the life of 
Samson, chapters 11 - 16. 



Ill — A SOLID FOUNDATION. 

• 

How wickedly men will ^act, even good men, when there is no strong 
government to control them, is clearly shown in the remaining chapters 
of the book of Judges. The experiment has been tried out, and the 
authentic record is here. Let no community ever try it again. The 
record is so bad that to tell the whole story would be unfit for public 
print. This is the picture of human nature slipping back into primitive 
depravity. Yet out of the worst depravity, some real good may come. 
The book of Ruth thus slips into this situation as a morning star after 
a night of oppressive darkness. 

Ruth was a Moabitess. She belonged to a degraded nation. (Gen. 
19:37) God himself spoke of her country as "Moab is my washpot" 
(Psa. 60:8) But God took her out of such environments as these to 
show the world tliat He can make the loveliest of human beings out 
of the most uninviting and impossible materi'al. By His Spirit, He 
made Ruth to be admired by the whole world and called her to be the 
mother of kings, yea to be the progenitor of Jesus Christ, the King 
of kings. (Matt. 1:5). What a sweet love-story the book of Ruth is, 
transforming a poor peasant girl into a queen of queens, by means of 
her faith in God and her loyalty to His people. 

This Period of study runs through the book of Ruth into the book 
of First Samuel laying the foundation for a kingdom in Israel. Eli 
is unable to hold either his own children or the nation in control. The 
people cry for a king to rule over them. Samuel is born a consecrated 
child. He w^as by far the best ruler' among all the judges of the three 
centuries we have here studied. But the people wanted a king, a man 
of war and victories. To their way of thinking this would be the only 
solid foundation for the government of their nation. And for this thev 
prayed. (I-Samuel 8:19-22). 

40 



THE B 1 iJ I . E AS IT IS 



PERIOD IX 

507 Years 

From the First of the Kings to the Carrying away into Babylon. 

I-Sam 8:23 — Il-Sam. — I-Ks. — II-Ks. I-Chron. — II. Chron. 36:5. 

The record of these years was undoubtedly written in full and placed 
in safe-keeping. Some of them may have been lost during the revolu- 
tion that followed. Some of them may have been preserved for us. 
We may safely assume that the Eye that never sleeps watched over 
Israel during these centuries and saw to it that such records as ought 
to be known to us of the twentieth century were safely kept, and 
handed down to us. It is possible that the histories of the last World 
War with which our country has been flooded are not as accurate, as 
unprejudiced, as valuable as the histories that will be written in the 
centuries to come. But a history written in the next century will 
undoubtedly use some words that are not now coined. And because 
that history uses some such words, la hostile critic five hundred years 
from now may try to prove that the World War was not fought in 
1914-18 because the words describing it were not invented then. Of 
this Period, "The Bible As It Is" tells us three things: 

I —THE UNITED KINGDOM. 

The children of Israel were granted their prayer for a king who 
could lead them into triumphant war. Saul was such an one. The 
strong hand with which he rescued the people of Jabesh-Gilead in 
the eleventh chapter of I-Samuel is a thrilling story that made all the 
people shout for joy. 

Fighting men are not always consecrated men. David was, but Saul 
was not. The two books of Samuel, the first part of I-Kings, all of 
I- Chronicles and the first part of Il-Chronicles tell us of the wars, 
victories and perplexities that came to Saul, David and Solomon, each 
of whom reigned forty years over Israel. At Saul's death there w^as 
a disposition to divide the kingdom between Saul's son, Ish-bosheth, 
and David, but the threatened disaster was averted. 

It was a literary age, a golden age of prosperity while the United 
kingdom lasted. There were people who taught that all of their 
adversities in government or in private life were the direct results of 
sin, and therefore if a man or woman has affllictions it is proof con- 
clusive that sin has been committed. AVe may not know were or when 
th^ book of Jfh was written or whether it is prose or poetry, fiction 
or history, but we do know it was written to prove that a perfect man 
may nevertheless be mightily afflicted. In the providence of God the 
five books of poetry, Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and Song 

41 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



of Solomon, dealing as they do with the well-known characteristics 
and events of the United Kingdom, are assigned to this peroid of 
history. 

II — THE NORTHERN KINGDOM. 

At Solomon's death, ten of the tribes seceded and finally made the 
city of Samaria their capital. Their dividing line ran in a rather broken 
and now uncertain manner from the Jordan in a northwesternly 
direction through a point about twelve miles north of Jerusalem to 
the Mediterranean sea. Thereby they surrendered thir claim to 
Jerusalem ^as their sacred city, and to the magnificent temple which 
Solomon had built. But they claimed, as they had the majority of 
tribes, their right to be known as the Kingdom of Israel. They sent 
to Egypt for their old-time friend, Jeroboam, to come and reign over 
them. (I-Ks. 12:3) These kings of Israel, of the Northern Kingdom, 
understood very well that to allow their ten tribes to go up to Jerus- 
alem to worship v/ould eventually bring them back into the kingdom 
of David. So they substituted other kinds of worship, the golden calves 
of Egypt and the lustful rites of Biaal. Their plea then was, as it 
is now in some quarters, that it matters not what sort of religion one 
has just so he is satisfied with it. 

To warn these people against this sin, God sent a number of prophets. 
Some of them like Elijah, Elisha and Micaiah did not write books. 
But the prophets like: 

Hosea, Joel, Amos, 

Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, 

Nahum, Habbakuk, Zephaniah, did write books. 

Their messages belong to this period of history but we may not know 
with exactness just how or when or where their books were first 
presented. These kings, however, would not hearken to their warnings 
and the Northern Kingdom as the kingdom of Israel, went into captivity 
about 722 B. C, 136 years sooner than did the kingdom of Judah. 

III — THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH. 

For three hundred and eighty-seven years the southern kingdom, 
or kingdom of Judah, lasted with a descendant of David on the throne. 
But despite the warnings of such great prophets as Isaiah, Ezekiel 
and Jeremiah, and such minor prophets as Obadiah, Micah and Zep- 
haniah, these kings eventually went the way of the kings of Israel 
and suifered the same fate, Israel, however, as represented by the ten 
tribes, has never returned, but Judah came back again and wtas 
established in Jerusalem until a son was born, our Lord Jesus Christ, 
to sit upon the throne of David forever. 

42 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



PALESTINE 

Syria is now the name for all that territory which people frequently 
speak of as Palestine. Palestine proper, however, is only the territory 
south of Tyre and Dan, but north of Wady el Arish (and Beersheba. 
Hence the expression "from Dan to Beersheba" (Il-Samuel 24:15) 
means from one end of the country to the other. The distance was 
150 from north to south. Its breadth was about 90 miles, 50 miles on 
the west bank of the Jordan river and 40 miles on the east bank reach- 
ing to the desert. This land is spoken of in Joel 3:4 ^as Palestine. 
But the word in Hebrew means Philistia and was probably once the 
same as Philistine. Palestine is sometimes spoken of as the. "Land of 
Israel" (Matt. 2:21), the "Land of Promise" (Heb. 11:9), the "Holy 
Land" (Zech. 2:12), the "Land of Canaan" (Gen. 12:5). The Last three 
expressions, however, usually refer to only that part of Palestine west 
of the Jordan river. Modern Syria takes in all of Palestine, including 
Philistia and Phoenicia, and extends farther northwiard 250 miles, 50 
miles beyond Antioch. In other words, it includes the entire eastern 
coast of the Mediterranean sea, which is a little more than 400 miles 
long, more than twice the length of Palestine. 

When Palestine was divided into two kingdoms (Kings 12) the 
dividing line passed in a broken circuitous manner from la point slightly 
north of Joppa to a point slightly north of Jericho. The land was 
therefore divided about half and half, but the northern half was divided 
among ten tribes while the southern half M^as divided between two. 

Not much of the land south of Hebron, however, was worth cultivat- 
ing except for ^a narrow strip of coiintry round about Beersheba. The 
pasture lands for sheep and goats extended in narrow strips along the 
valleys running into the wilderness to the desert like the fingers of a 
man's hand holding the desert in position. 

Color the foregoing map so as to distinguish between the two 
kingdoms at a glance. The kingdom of Judah in red and the kingdom 
of Israel in brown would show to (advantage. Then put Syria in gray 
and Assyria in green and you will see the four kingdoms that played 
politics with one another in the days of king Ahaz. (II-Ks. 16:17) 
It is not necessary to remember all of these kings. And yet your mind, 
if it is young and vigorous, will easily remember the most eminent of 
them. The following is the order in which they reigned and the number 
of years they reigned: 

Kings of Israel, the Northern kingdom, Jeroboam 22; Nadab 2 
Baasha 24; Elah 2; Zimri (seven days); Omri 12; Ahab 22; Abaziah 2 
Jehoram 12; Jehu 28; Jehoahaz 17; Jehoash 16; Jeroboam-II 41 
Zachariah (six months); Shallum (one month); Menahem 10; Pekahiah 
2; Pekah 20; Hosea 9. 

Kings of Judah, the Southern kingdom, Rehoboam 17; Abijah 3 
Asa 41; Jehoshaphat 25; Jehoram 8; Ahaziah 1; Queen Athaliah 6 
Joash 40; Amaziah 29; Uzziah 52; Jotham 16; Ahaz 16; Hezekiah 29. 
Mianasseh 55; Anion 2; Josiah 31; Jehoahaz (three months); Jehoiakim 
11; Jehoiachin (three months); Zedekiah 11. 

44 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



PERIOD X 

188 Years 

From the Carrying away into Babylon to the Restoration of Jerusalem. 

Il-Chron. 36:6 - Ezra - Xehemiah - Esther - Lamentations - Ezekiel 

Daniel - Haggai - Zechariah - Mialachi 

This period is sometimes spcken of as The Captivity or Exile. 
Neither of these words, hrwever, is sufficiently definite for cur purpose. 
"The carrying away into Babylon" is an expression borrowed from 
Matt. 1:17, and includes all three cf the deportations spoken of in the 
last chapter of Il-Chronicles. If lany one thinks the Captivity must 
have been exactly 70 years, as predicted by Jeremiah (Jer. 25:11), we 
will ask him to note that it was probably 70 years from the destruction 
of the temple to the completion of the restored temple; that the Jews 
went into captivity in three sections and likewise returned in three 
sections, but that upon returning to Palestine, they were still in captiv- 
ity and subject to the siame Babylonian king. Jeremiah was doubtless 
right about the 70 year period, buti he did not tell us from what event 
he began his reckoning dates. We infer, however, that he had in mind 
the Temple, or the Assyrian overthrow in Carchemish, 605 B. C. 

I — NEBUCHADNEZZAR AND BABYLON. 

Nebuchadnezzar became the king of the whole known world. And 
Babylon which he built was by far the greatest city in the world. While 
he resided in Babylon Jeremiah wrote the book of Lamentations to 
describe his sorrow over the destruction of Jerusalem. Ezekiel, a priest 
and prophet in captivity, wrote his prophetic book of visions. But 
Daniel, who as a boy, had been carried away in the captivity under 
Jehoiakim, 597 B.C., (Dan. 1:2), was brought into the king's court 
and became a royal persomage of tremendous influence. His book of 
prophecy startled the world with a cycloramic view of the rise and fall 
of empires until the Christ should come. (Dan. 2). This Nebuchad- 
nezzar inherited the Assj^rian Empire into which the Kingdom of Israel 
had fallen captive 136 years previous. So that under this great king, 
the subjugation of all Israel was complete. 

II — CYRUS AND THE PERSIAN EMPIRE. 

The prophet Daniel was still living when Cyrus the Great captured 
Babylon in 535 B.C.. He had the pleasure therefore of helping to 
introduce and establish that kingdom which he told Nebuchadnezzar 

45 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



would surely come. For with the capture of Babylon was established 
the great Persian Empire, sometimes called the Medo-Persian Empire, 
of which Cyrus was the founder and king. About the first thing that 
Cyrus did after capturing the city was to issue a decree permitting all 
exiles to return home. Thereupon Zerubbabel gathered together a 
large company, 42,360, (Ezra 2:6t) to go to Palestine and rebuild the 
temple. The Samaritans and others in Palestine threw many obstacles 
in their way, and the work was sadly delayed. Then came the prophets, 
Haggai and Zechariah, with their wonderfuUj' inspiring messages which 
we read in the books that bear their names. The temple was then 
quickly finished, it would seem, about the year, 516 B. C, (Ezra 6:15) 
during the reign of Darius Hystaspes. 

Ill — DARIUS AXD HIS SUCCESSORS. 

We are not concerned about the identity of Darius as to whether he 
was a Mede or Persian or both. The name may have applied to a 
number of kings as the title Pharaoh does. The Darius of whom we 
are thinking now, is thiat king of Persia or the Medo-Persian Empire, 
known in history as Darius Hystaspes. He it was who went up against 
Greece and was defeated in the world-famous battle of Marathon in 
490 B. C. His son, Xerxes, tried to conquer Greece and outshine his 
father in a world-famous battle of Sept. 23, 480 B.C. when he siat 
with great display upon a throne of gold to watch his forces win the 
battle of Salamis and bring all Europe prostrate to his feet. To his 
great surprise and consternation, the battle went agiainst him. He then 
in terror fled back to his throne in Persia. There he lived henceforth 
a life of luxury and ease. While doing so, Esther was made his/ queen 
and we have the thrilling story of that book. 

His son, Artaxerxes, came to the throne in 465 B C. and Xehemiah 
Mias made his cupbearer. But when Nehemiah heard that the city of 
Jerusalem was not yet restored, he was sad and begged to go and 
rebuild the ancient city. (Xeh. 2) . Ezra had already gone to Jerusalem 
with a goodly company of returning exiles. (Ezra 8). Nehemiah now 
obtained permission to proceed at once with all (authority of the king 
to do what was in his heart to do. The books of Ezra and Xehemiah 
tell the story of great success against great difficulties. About the 
time they finished their task, Malachi produced the prophetical book 
that bears his name, and probably with the inspiration of his vision 
set liis seal upon the books of the Old Testament as Ezra the scribe 
had collected and edited them. And these are the 39 books we have 
now studied in these ten lessons. 



46 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



BABYLON 



The king of the city of Babylon was the king of the sorroiinding 
country Babylonia, just as the king of Samaria was the king of the 
country of Samaria, In the time of its prosperity Babylon was perhaps 
the largest city of the East, and certainly the most glorious. It 
occupied both banks of the Euphrates river. It is now only a heap 
of ruins buried under the rubbish of centuries, a thing foretold by the 
prophets but not believed by the people to whom they spoke. For 
according to Herodotus, who saw and described it (Book 1, sect. 178), 
the city was in the form of a square, fifty-six miles in circumference, 
with its outer wall 335 feet high and 85 feet thick. It had houses 
three and four stories high. Its temple and hanging gardens belonged 
to the seven wonders of the world. If what Herodotus wrote is true, 
then even London is not now half so great as Babylon once was. 

Babylon is where Nebuchadnezzar reigned (2 Kings, 24), where 
Daniel prophesied (Daniel 2), where Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego 
were cast into the firery furnace (Daniel 3), where Daniel was cast 
into the lions' den (Daniel 6), where the feast of Belshazzar was spread 
when the hand was seen writing on the wall (Daniel 5). Cyrus the 
Great conquered the city and issued an order for the rebuilding of the 
temple in Jerusalem and the return of the Jews from their captivity 
(Il-Chron. 36 and Ezra I). Here also Alexander the Great died. 



JERUSALEM 

Jerusalem is a city about 20 miles west of the river Jordan, and 15 
from the Dead sea, into which it is drained. It was originally built 
on four mountains, but the valleys between them hiave now been filled 
up so that the entire city is 2,500 feet above the sea level. It has a 
wall around it 38^2 feet high, with 34 towers and eight gates. One 
of the gates is closed up. It is called the Goldsn Gate, and is close 
by where the temple used to stand, at the southeast corner of the city. 
Where the temple once stood is now the mosque of Omar, with an open 
court of about forty acres. 

Mt. Moriah and Mt. Zion are two of the mountains on which the 
city stands. Mt. Moriah is where Abraham started to offer up his son 
Isaac (Gen. 22), and Mt. Zion is where David established his palace 
(Il-Samuel 5:6-10). Mt. Moriah appears to have once had a city on 
it called Salem, of which Melchizedek was king (Gen 14:18). Mt. 
Zion also had a city called Jebus, which David captured (I-Chron. 
11:5). David then united the two mountains into one city and calleo 
it Jebu-Salem, or Jerusalem. 

More than half of our Bible is associated with the city of Jerussalem. 
And our heavenly home for eternity is spoken of as the New Jerusa- 
lem. The city, therefore, is of more interest to all good people than 
any other city on earth. 

From this city the Jews were carried into captivity (II-Kings 25), 
and to this place they returned (Ezra 1, 2,3). Here the wise men of 
the east, led by a star, came to king Herod in search of the child born 
to be King of the Jews (Matt. 2); here that King proclaimed Himself 
the light of the world (John 8), institued the Lord's Supper (Mark 14), 
was crucified, and rose again from the dead (Luke 23, 24). Here, on 
the day of Pentecost, the Christian church was established (Acts 2), 
and here was begun the task, not vet finished, of preaching the gospel 
to all the v/orld (Luke 24:47-49). 

48 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



PERIOD XI 

400 Years 

From the Restoration of Jerusalem to the Coming of Christ. 

We may not be certain of the exact year when the walls of Jerusalem 
were finished, the gates repaired and the great dedication spoken of 
in Nehemiah, chapters 8 - 13, took place. There is also a little un- 
certainty as to the exact year in which our Lord was born. This is 
due in large measure to the fact that our method of counting yefars 
has changed somewhat since then. The variation is onlj' a matter of 
four or five years and that is so unimportant that we need not take 
time to consider it. The Bible says nothing whatever about it and 
where the Bible is silent we need not be anxious. We are very sure, 
hoM^ever, that when the restored Jerusalem was in holiday attire once 
more, the religious leaders expected that their long-looked-for Messiah 
would soon come. And they made ready for Him. 

Ezra built a pulpit of v/ood (Neh. 8:4), the first pulpit ever made, 
Ezra produced the first Bible and caused it to be read in public and 
expounded. (Neh. 8:8). The people made a solemn covenant and 
caused it to be sealed, (Neh. 9:38) . Then they went to their homes 
in the various cities of Palestine resolved to have God's book expounded 
like that in their own cities. They built pulpits inside auditoriums 
and called them synagogues. And from this type of building we of 
the present day construct our churches. 

I — ALEXANDER THE GREAT. 

Jerusalem was now in order once more and the people went about 
their affairs. When they talked about their coming Messiah, attention 
was drawn to the fact that the prophet Daniel had said there would 
be four universal kingdoms holding sway over all the earth before the 
Christ should come. One of them of which Nebuchadnezzar was the 
liead had come and gone. I'he Persian kingdom of which Cyrus was 
the original head, was even now on the decline. Two more world-wide 
kingdoms must therefore come before their Messiah should appear. 
In this state of mind they waited 77 years or more. Then Alexander 
the Great, king of Macedonia, swept down upon Persia like la whirl- 
wind out of Greece, about 333 B.C., and conquered the world. The 
Jews believed that in him was the fulfillment of the prophecy of Daniel 
8:21, the beginning of tlie third universal kingdom. When he came to 
Jerusalem they admitted him without opposition and showed him the 
prophecy. 

II -- ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT. 

In 323 B. C. Alexander died and his kingdom was divided among 
his four generals. (Dian.8:22 and 11:4). Palestine fell to Ptolemy the 
First, who had taken Egypt as his portion and Alexandria as his capital. 
It was 320 B. C. when he marched into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day 
and asserted his sovereignty over this people. He took many of their 
best men ciaptive to Alexandria where they became very influential. 
Alexander's conquests had carried the Greek language to the ends of 

49 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



the earth and thus prepared the way for the coming Christ to speak 
to the whole world.. The Ptolemies, ruling in Egypt in Alexandria, 
a city of learning and with a great library, desired that the offici-al 
copy of the Bible as Ezra had preserved it in Jerusalem, should be 
translated into Greek and put into the Alexandria library. That 
translation was called the Septuagint and was the first version ever 
made. It was the version in common use in the day of Christ and His 
apostles. 

In the course of time, however, the kingdom established by Seleucus 
I, Xicator, one of Alexander's generals, removed its capital to Antioch, 
and the son who succeeded to the throne was called Antiochus I. The 
next to succeed to the throne was called Antiochus II. Antiochus III 
became known as Antiochus the Great. He made war on the Ptolemies 
of Egypt and took Jerusalem away from Egyptian control, in 198 B. C. 
His successor, Antiochus IX was called Epiphanes, "the illustrious." 
And this king determined to destroy the religion of the Jews and 
substitute for it the worship of the Olympian Zeus. He ordered every- 
body to worship this god. 

Against this order, Mattathias, priest and patriot, rebelled and slew 
^he official who tried to enforce it. Guerrilla warfare followed. Mat- 
tathias had five sons and they led the people to follow their fiather. 
Judas, Jonathan *and Simon are the most illustrious of these sons. 
Judas, with almost superhuman eflort, won decisive battles. His 
enthusiastic followers called him "Maccabi" or "the hammerer." 
These sons 'hammered" away -at Antiochus Epiphanes until they won 
independence for the Jewish people. And they have been known 
ever since as "The Maccabees." The Jews remained comparatively 
independent from this date, 142 B. C, until Pompey in the name of 
Rome took possession in 53 B. C. 

Ill — HEROD TPIE GREAT. 

During the seventy-nine years of their independence, the Jews held 
tightly to the prophecy of Daniel. There are people even yet who 
believe that this Antiochan kingdom, called the kingdom of Seleucidae, 
was the fourth kingdom of which Daniel made reference. It was not, 
however, a universal, world-wide kingdom like the first three. Many 
t»f the Jews wrote books which were so interesting, so marvellous as 
history th'at many attempts have been made to insert fourteen of their 
books in the Bible as a part of the inspired record. In some Family 
Bibles they are thus printed in fine print between the Old and the New 
testaments as "Apochrypha" which means spurious. 

When Rome took possession of Palestine and the Roman Empir^ 
became a universal empire, the people began to feel that this Roman 
^.mpire was the fourth kingdom to which Daniel referred. And, if 
so, then the coming of Christ was nigh at hand. Rome ruled the 
country; but Herod, in the line of descendants of the Maccabees was 
recognizedj at least because of his marriage to Mariamne, as the right- 
ful ruler. The Roman Senate therefore made him king in 39 B.C. 

To please the Jews he proceeded to build for them a temple that 
vvould outshine the one built by Solomon. Before it was completely 
nnished, Herod died. Before it was completely finished, Jesus came. 
Because Jesus was rejected, it soon fell, having remained a finished 
structure only 7 years. But it was more glorious than Solomon's 
because Jesus and the apostles taught the people in its si)lendid courts. 

50 




^T.HIRMON 



EH 

(KZ ARE-TM 
NA 

PERNAUM 



TABOR 

DOR. 

AiN 

UTTUE HERMAN 



GiuBOA 



DOTHAM 



MX. E-BAU. 
E.CHEN\ 
CTACOB-i W£l-L. 



j£RU5ALE-fA 
Oi_,V £.T 



BE-THAIMV 
B£.THi-E.H£-M 



PALES 



riNE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



PALESTINE IN THE TIME OF CHRIST 



When our Lord was born Herod the Great ruled over all the land 
shown on this map. He was a king under tribute to Rome. He built 
the temple, the one in which our Lord proclaimed Himself the light 
of the world. He slew the children of Bethlehem (Matt. 2), but while 
our Lord was a babe in Egypt this Herod died. 

The land was then divided between his three sons, Herod Archelaus, 
Herod Antipas, rand Herod Philip II. Archelaus had Judea and 
Samaria. xAntipas had Galilee and Peraea. Peraea is all that country 
east of the Jordan in Palestine. Philip II. was given the territory 
around about Mt. Hermon in the north. He built a city and called 
it after Caesar and himself, Caesarea Philippi. Archelaus already had 
la city by the name of Caesarea, which had been built by his father in 
honor of Augustus Caesar and named after him. Herod Antipas was 
not to be outdone by his brothers, so he built a city on the coast of 
the sea of Galilee and named it Tiberias after Tiberius Caesar, who 
made him the ruler of that country. This Tiberias is the only one of 
these three cities that is now a city of importance. 

These three Herods had a brother named Herod Philip I., to whom 
his father, Hreod the Great, left no inheritance. This must have been 
a great disappointment to him. His wife, Herodias, and his daughter. 
Salome, left him and went to Herod Antipas, who had the inheritance 
of Galilee and Peraea. Because John the Baptist denounced this crime 
she put him to death (Mark 6:14-29). This Herod mocked Jesus (Luke 
23:11), arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe, and sent Him to Pilate. 

The apostle John probably lived to see the day when there was not 
a Herod ruling anywhere on the earth. Their time was short. Their 
lives ended in disappointment, disgrace, or exile. But we cannot well 
understand the life of Christ without knowing the country as it was 
divided by them. Herod Archelaus was the first to be dethroned, and 
in his stead Caesar appointed Agrippa, the son of Aristobolus, the 
murdered brother of Archelaus, to be ruler. This grandson of Herod 
the Great was known as Herod Agrippa I., who put the apostle James, 
to death and tried to put Peter also. (Acts 12) He was killed by an 
angel (Acts 12:23) . Afterward his son, Herod Agrippa II., was assigned 
a little kingdom, and before him Paul was tried (Acts 25:22-26:32). 

Color the foregoing map, making Galilee and Peraea, brown; Judea 
red; Samaria, gray; seas, in blue. 

52 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



PERIOD XII 

100 Years 

From the Birth of Christ to the Death of the Apostle John. 

Matt. 1:26 - Rev. 22:21 

Since the first twenty-five verses in Matthew are merely an intro- 
duction, we may as well consider this Period as covering the entire 
New Testament. The New Testament, however, is itself naturally 
divided into three periods of its own, each period about 33 j^ears long. 

I — THE ASCENSION OF CHRIST. 

To this subdi^■ision of time belong the four Gospels of Matthew, 
Mark, Luke and John, and the first eleven verses of the Acts. This 
does not mean that they were written before the Ascension, for they 
were not. It means simply that these four accounts of our Lord's 
earthly life and teaching tell us of the things He did and said between 
the time He came in the flesh and the time He ascended into heaven. 

In all of these twelve lessons we have been careful to emphasize 
the fact that dates are uncertain if we want to fix the exact year 
or month or day. We observe Christmas as the day of His birth and 
Easter as the day of His resurrection regardless of whether there is 
sufficient evidence to fix these dates. Not to observe either day because 
we cannot prove the exact day, would take away a great deal of joy 
from the whole world. 

We assume that this Period between the Birth of Christ and the 
Death of John was 100 years, but it may have been a few years longer 
or a few years shorter. Even the exact year when Christ was born 
is not definitely settled. For we do not reckon time precisely as they 
reckoned time then. We have had to change the length of our years 
several times during the last two thousand years in order to make the 
e(aiinoxes stay in the same month land day every year. If all the years 
since Christ was born are figured at the exact length of the year as 
we now have it, then the date of His birth would have to be placed 
at about B. C. 5 on our calendars. But why bother with these fractions? 
In round numbers, the calendar fas we have it is good enough for our 
purposes. 

II — THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE CHURCH UNIVERSAL. 

If we knew nothing, and believed nothing, about the resurrrection 
and ascension of Christ, and if we had never heard about the in- 
dwelling of the Holy Spirit, there is hardly a church on earth that 
would admit us to membership. For these things are supposed to be 
fundamental. It does not seem that the apostles themselves under- 
stood the full meaning of these things until the day of Pentecost when 
tlie Holy Spirit came down. And even then the apostles did not seem 

53 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



to understand that the church was to be universal. They thought 
it was an organization for Jews only. The book of the Acts of the 
Apostles tells us how strangely the Gentiles were let in, first by Peter 
in Caesarea (Acts 10) and then by Paul in Antioch (Acts 15) until 
all Asia Minor and Europe were in full fellowship together. Possibly 
it was to emphasize the universality of the church organization that 
the first three epistles of Paul (his most important ones) Romans, 
First, and Second Corinthians, were letters addressed to European 
churches. So 'also were Philippians, 1 and 11 - Thessalonians. But 
Galatians, Ephesians, and Colossians Avere addressed to Asiatics. 
I and II Timothy, Titus and Philemon were addressed to individuals. 
The Hebrews may have been written to Jews only, but the epistle of 
James, it is distinctly affirmed, was v/ritten for the whole twelve tribes. 
And as if this were not enough to make it evident that the chur<?h 
was for all men everywhere, I-Peter is written to "strangers," Il-Peter 
to all believers, I-John to all mankind a testimony, II 'and Ill-John 
to individuals, and Jude to all who are "sanctified, preserved and 
called." Together they show the birth, youth and maturity of the 
church as an organization from heaven for all men of 'all countries 
for all time. 

Ill — AX IXSPIRIXG VISION. 

In these first twenty-six books of the New Testament, there are 
glimpses now and then of a new heaven and a new earth yet to be. 
But the statements are largely doctrinal 'and prosaic. The 14th chapter 
of the Gospel of John comes tlie nearest, perhaps, of any to kindling 
the fires of our imagination regarding the future world. And there 
is some question as to whether this fourth Gospel was written before 
all the other apostles were dead. At any rate, it is certain that if 
our Bible bad closed without the books of John, and particularly the 
book of Revelation, the Church universal would have been without 
that sort of inspiring vision that sets fire to the imagination and 
purifies the soul. A book was needed for that purpose. It is not a 
question for us now to consider as to whether the book of Revelation 
was written last of all. In the providence of God, who supervised 
this book, it is printed last, in THE BIBLE AS IT IS. 

Xo place could be more appropriate for it. Having seen the Church 
universal established in the previous books, we needed only one thing- 
more to be completely furnished for good works, and that was an 
inspiring vision of a new heaven, a new earth, a new Jerusalem. It 
matters little whether we understand the vision or not, at the present 
time. Let the language be figurative if it must, and the outline highly 
colored if that is best, but give us something to fire the imagination 
and make our blood tingle with excitement and delight. We open the 
book and behold, the startling statement, "Blessed is he that readeth." 

X^ever mind then whether you understand the book or not. You 
should read it. It will give you the one thing you need more: an 
inspiring vision of the Xew Jerusalem when the Church universal has 
finished its task. That vision will help you. It will fire your soul 
with religious fervor and inspire you to pray as John prayed when he 
saw the end of time and the opening scene of eternity. "Even so, 
come. Lord Jesus." 

54 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



EXERCISES 



In order to find any New Testament sentence without Concordance 
or other outside help, you must bear in mind the three subdivisions 
of this Twelfth Period as outlined in this lesson. If it is a sentence 
spoken by our Lord when He was on earth, or a sentence connected 
with any parable that He spoke, or miracle that he performed, it will 
be found in Matthew, Mark, Luke or John, commonly called the 
Gospels. The gener'al structure of these Gospels is the same in each 
book in that they all begin where Christ began and end with His 
crucifixion and resurrection, Matthew makes a specialty of the Sermon 
on the Mount and of Jesus as King, Mark a specialty of brief and 
exact statements in their chronological order, Luke a specialty of the 
things in which the Gentiles were most interested, and John a specialty 
of our Lord's discourses as the Son of God. 

If the sentence you want to find has to do with the establishment 
of the church or with Paul las the teacher, the Acts of the Apostles 
and Paul's epistles are the books to seek. If it is any question regard- 
ing the new earth and new heaven or the final judgment, it miay be 
in the book of Revelation or in some of the epistles like I-Cor. 15 or 
I-Thess. 4, or Il-Pet. 3. Read the New Testament straight through 
and you will get these things stored in your mind in their right relations. 

On the foregoing map, color the island of Piatmos, red; the place 
where John received the book of Revelation. Trace with small arrows 
or footprints Paul's second Missionary Tour. (See Acts 15:40 - 18:22). 
Trace also by a zig-zag line, Paul's voyage to Rome, coloring the island 
of Malta, red, to show where he was shipwrecked. (Acts 27:1 - 28:16). 

Find for me the partable of the Prodigal Son. (The mental processes 
should be: (1) That was given by Jesus. It must therefore be in one 
of the Gospels. It offers hope to every sort of sinner, therefore (2) 
Luke would be likely to emphasize that message. It does not belong- 
to the crucifixion and the resurrection-part of our Lord's life, nor 
to the days of His childhood or early ministry. It must therefore be 
about the middle of Luke's Gospel.) 

Find for me the doctrine of Jesus being the bread of life. (Jesus 
spoke the words; therefore it must be in one of the Gospels. It was 
a discourse on that subject therefore it must be in the book of John.) 

Find for me the doctrine of Justification bj' Faith. (That is a 
conclusion from an argument. It would be like Paul to argue in that 
fashion in Romans for Europeans; and in Galatians for Asiatics.) 

Find for me the doctrine of the millennium. (It would be like John 
to give us that inspiring vision. It would naturally belong to the 
book of Revelation and to the last chapters in that book, seeing that 
it has reference to the end of time.) 

56 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



YOUR OWN BIBLE 



By all means have a Bible of your own. Select it even with more 
care than you would buy a new suit. Much depends upon your eyes, 
your taste and the use you are going to make of it. Remember that 
your mind works in ways over which 3'^ou have no control. Therefore 
provide for its comfort that it may serve you well. You may think, 
for instance, that you have your whole mind focused upon what you 
are reading. A month afterwards, however, you miay find that you 
can recall exactly how that sentence looked much better than you can 
remember its meaning. You can recall the exact location of that 
sentence whether it was on the right hand side of the page or the left, 
whether it was at the top of the page or at the bottom. You are 
not consciously thinking of those things at all when you are reading. 
But such are the things that the mind always does, regardless of 
whetlier you want it to do so or not. 

If you were to use the same make of Bible all your lifetime, you 
would be infinitely more familiiar with it than you will be if you use 
a diflferent size, diiferently paged book every few weeks. If the size 
of type is not comfortable to your eyes, you will be tempted for that 
reason not to read it. If the style and make-up of the book is not 
pleasing to your taste, you will be tempted to hide it away in your 
trunk. A king's message is not usually sent to his noblemen on paper 
whose quality, binding and appearance are not first class. Your Bible 
is the message of the King of kings to your precious soul. Have a 
pride therefore in keeping it in good appearance. Better have cheap 
clothes than a cheap Bible. For the clothes you may be compelled to 
wear. But the cheap Bible you will not be compelled to read. You 
will be tempted to hide it away, never take it to church, or show 
it to your friends. 




57 



BIBLE READERS' BOOK MARK 

Nctnxe, __^ 



Dcxte BegTXTv 



Dctte Endied^, 







First 


QiMdrter. 






SUN. 


NOW. 


TUETS. 


WED. 


THUR. 


FRl. 


SAT. 


GEN. 

1 - S 


GEN. 

6 -a 


GEN. 
<f -11 


GEN. 
IZ-14 


GEN. 
IS- 17 


GEN. 

la -ZO 


GEN. 
Zl -Z3 


GEN. 


GEN. 
Z9-3I 


GEN. 
3Z-34 


GEN. 
3S -37 


GEN. 
3S-40 


GEN. 
41 -43 


GEN. 
44-46 


GEN. EX. 

47 1 


EX. 
JZ -4 


EX. 
3-7 


EX. 

a -lo 


EX. 

II - 13 


EX. 

14-16 


EX. 
I7-/9 


EX. 
ZO-^4 


EX. 
Z3 -Z7 


e:x. 

Z6~30 


EX. 
31 -33 


EX.. 
34-36 


EX. 
37-39 


EX. __UEV. 
40 Z. 


LEV. 
3-7 


LEV/. 

a - to 


LEV. 
II - 13 


LEV. 
14 - 16 


LETV- 
17 - 19 


LEV. 

zo-zz 


LEV. 


LEV, NUM. 


NUM. 
4 -6 


NUM. 
7-9 


NUM. 
lO- IZ 


NUM. 
13 - IS 


NUM. 

16 - la 


NUM. 
19 -Z.I 


NUM. 
ZZ - Z6 


NUM. 

zr - Z.9 


NUM. 
30- 3Z 


NUM. 
33-33 


NUM. DEU. 
36 ^ Z 


OEU. 
3 - S 


DEU. 

6 - a 


DEIU. 
f - 13 


DEU. 
14-16 


OEU. 

\7 - If 


OEU. 
ZO- ZZ 


DEU. 
Z3 - ZS 


DEU. 
Z6 -ZS 


DEU. 
Z9- 31 


DEU. JOSH. 
32, ~ Z 


JOSH. 
3 - S 


JOSH. 
6 - & 


JOSH. 

9 -n 


JOSH. 
IZ -14 


JOSH. 

13 - 17 


JOSH. 

la -ZO 


JOSH. JUD3. 
Z I ~ 1 


JUDG. 
Z -4 


JUDG. 

3 -r 


JUDG. 

a - lo 


JUDG. 
II - 13 


JUDG. 
14 —16 


JUDG. 
17 — 19 


JUDG. RUTH 
ZO ~ 3 


RUTH I SAn. 
4 ~ Z 


1 SAt^. 
3-5 


1 S/^n. 

6 - a 


1 S/^M. 
9 - /( 


1 SAM. 

\Z - 14 


1 SAM. 

\S - 17 


I SAM. 

la —ZZ 


t SAM. 
Z3 -ZS 


1 SAM. 

Z6 -ze 


; SAM. 
Z9 - 31 


Z SAM. 
1 - 3 


Z SAM. 
4-6 


Z SAM. 
7-9 


z S/^n. 


Z SAM. 

IS - 17 


Z SAM. 
IS - ZO 


Z SAM. 
Zl - Z-^ 


Z SAM. 1 KIN. 

Z4 ~ Z 


1 KIW. 
3 - S 


1 K IN. 

6 - a 




C 


beconc 


i Qt 


icxrtei 


- 




^UN. 


MON. 


TUES. 


WED. 


THUR. 


FR\. 


SAT. 


1 K/N. 
9-13 


1 Kl N. 
14 - 16 


1 K/N. 
17 - 19 


1 Kl N. 
ZO -ZZ 


Z KIN. 
1 - 3 


Z KIN. 
4-6 


Z KIN, 
7-9 


Z KIN. 

\0 — 1-4 


Z KIN. 
IS - 17 


Z HIN. 

\a -Z.O 


Z KIN. 
Z{ —Z3 


^KIN- tCHR. 
Z4 ~ 1 


ICHR. 
Z - 4 


( CHR. 
S - 7 


\CHR. 

a - tz 


I CHR. 

13 - IS 


i CHR. 

16 - le, 


1 CHR. 
19 - Zl 


1 CHR. 
ZZ-Z4 


1 CHR. 
ZS - Z7 


ICHR. ZCHR. 

ze ~ 1 


Z CHR. 

z - e> 


Z CHR. 
7 - f 


ZCHR. 

lO — \z 


Z CHR. 
13 - IS 


Z CHR. 

16 - la 


Z CHR. 
e? - Zl 


Z CHR. 
ZZ - Z4 


Z CHR. 
ZS- -Z9 


Z CHR. 
30 - 3Z 


Z CHR. 
33 -3S 


Z CHR. EZRA 
36 — Z 


EZ.RA 
3 - S 


EZRA 

6 -a 


EZRA NEH. 

9 ~ 1 


NEIH. 
Z - S 


NEH. 
7-9 


NEH. 
lO - IZ 


NEH. ESTH. 
13 ~ Z 


ESTH. 
3 - S 


ESTH. 

(5 - a 


ESTH. JOB 

^ 1 


JOE> 

z - <s 


joe> 

7 - f 


JOE, 

to - IZ 


JOB, 

13 - IS 


JOB 

16 - /a 


JOB 
19 -Zl 


JOB, 
ZZ -Z4 


JOB. 
ZS -Zf 


JOE, 
30-3Z 


joe, 

33 - 3S 


JOE, 
36-33 


JOB. 
39 -41 


JOE, PS. 
4Z — Z 


PS. 
3 - S 


PS. 
6 - lO 


RS. 

II - 13 


RS. 
14 — 16 


PS. 
17 — /9 


PS. 
ZO - ZZ 


PS. 
JZ3-ZS 


PS. 

z6 - za 


RS. 
Z9 - 33 


PS. 
34 - 36 


RS. 
37 - 39 


RS. 
40—4Z 


PS. 


PS. 
46 -4B 


PS. 
.^^ — SI 


P3. 

3Z - SS 


RS. 
37-39 


PS. 

6>o-6z 


PS. 
63 - SS 


PS. 
66- 68 


PS. 
69—71 


PS. 
7Z - 7-4 


PS. 
73 - 7^ 


RS. 

eo-az 


PS. 

a3-as 


PS. 

a6 - a<3 


PS. 
39 - 91 


PS. 
9Z - 94 


PS. 
9S - 97 


PS. 

^a - loz 


PS. 
I03 - lOS 


PS. 

\o6 - loa 


PS. 
I09 - III 


PS. 

IIZ - 114 


PS. 

IIS - 117 


PS. 
IIS - IZO 



Copyjricjht, l'^l'9, fey John. B-lltli/cltl L-emon.. 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



rO READ THE BIBLE THROUGH 

Five chapters on Sunday and three every week-day will finish the 
Bible in two days less than a year. By using this chart you can skip 
from place to place according to you- mood and yet check ott the 
chapters as you read them. 



Third 


QxXi 


cxrten 






SUN. 


MON. 


TUES. 


WED. 


THUR. 


FRL 


SAT. 


P5. 


PS. 

\Z6 — \ze 


PS. 
\Z1 - 131 


PS. 
I3Z - 134 


PS. 
135 - 137 


136 - I40 


141 - 143 


PS. 


P5. PROV. 


PROV. 
^ - 4 


PROV. 
5-7 


RROV. 

a - lO 


PROV. 
1/ - 13 


14 - 16 


PROV. 

ir — zi 


zz - ZA- 


PROV. 
^-5 - .27 


PROV. 
ze - JO 


PFf'oV. ECCL. 


ECCL.. 
J - S 


ECCI — 

<s - a 


ECCL. S.ofS. 


5. 0./ S. 
.3 - -f 


5. of S 

S - Y 


S.ofS. ISA. 
& ~ z 


ISA. 
3 - S 


ISA. 
6 - S 


<? - /I 


ISA. 
IZ - l£> 


ISA. 
17 - 1"^ 


ISA. 
^O - ZZ 


ISA.. 
£3 - ^S 


ISA. 

ze> - Z.3 


ISA- 
.2-? - 31 


ISA. 
3^ - 34 


/SA. 
3S - J'f 


ISA. 
40 - 4-2 


ISA. 
"^3- 45 


ISA. 
46- 4.S 


ISA. 
.^'I - SI 


ISA. 

SZ, - 3-4 


ISA. 
SS - 57 


ISA. 
so - 6Z 


\SA. 

6,C5- es 


ISA. vJER- 

66 •" -e 


JER. 
3-5 


JETR. 
6 - <S 


JETR. 
<? - 1/ 


IZ - '^ 


UEFl. 
IS - I'l 


JER. 
^0 - ZZ 


JER. 
.23 - ZS 


JER. 
>£6 - ^S 


^ER. 
>2^ - 31 


JETR. 
3Z - 34 


35-37 


JER. 
3G — AZ 


JER. 
-*3 - ^S 


J EH. 
46 - 4« 


JER. 
4<? - S-l 


JER. LAM. 
5^ Z 


LAM. 
3 - ^ 


eze:k. 

1 - 3 


E2LE.^. 


EZE^. 
^ - 11 


EZEK. 
U - 14 


EZEK. 

IS - 17 


EZEK. 

la - ^o 


ezEK. 
^; - -23 


e:z£:k. 

Z4 - -26 


EZiEK. 
ZV — 31 


EZELK. 
3Z - 3A 


CZIEK. 
35" - 3V 


EZEK. 

3e -^o 


E-2EK. 
41 — -^3 


EZEK. 
.44 - 46 


EZEK. DAN. 
4 7 ! 


DAN. 
JZ — & 


DAN. 
7 - ^ 


DAN. 

to - IZ 


HOS. 

1 - 3 


HOS. 
^ - 6 


HOS. 
7 - *? 


HOS. 
JO — 1-2. 


Has. JOEL. 
13 ~~ 3 


AI^OS 
1 - 3 


AMOS. 
4-6 


AMOS 

r - «? 


OBA. JON. 
1 Z 


JON. MIC. 
3 1 


.2 -4 




fouLrfh Q-Ltctrter 




SUN. 


MON. 


TUES. 


WED. 


THUR. 


PR!. 


SAT. 


MIC, NAH. 

S '~ z. 


NAH. HAS. 
3 — Z 


HAB. ZEPH. 

s - Z 


ZEPH. HAG. 
3 ~ ^ 


ZECH. 
1 - 3 


ZECH. 
4 - <3 


ZECH. 
7 - ^ 


ZLECH. 


MAL. 
1 - 3 


MAU. 
4 


MAT. 
1 -^ 


MAT. 
3-5 


MAT. 
6-6 


MAT. 

<? - (/ 


MAT. 
1,6 - /4 


MAT. 


MAT. 
ZO - ZZ 


M 
Z3 


AT. 
- ZS 


MAT. 
Z6 - >2S 


MARK 
1 - 3 


MARK 
4-6 


MARK 
7 - «? 


MARK 
\0 — '4 


M-ARK LUKE 
15 — 1 


LUKE 
.2-4 


LUKE 
5-7 


LUKE 
e - lO 


LUKE 
II - 13 


LUKE 
14 - 13 


LUKE 

ir - z\ 


LUKE 
ZZ - ZA 


JOHN 
1 - 3 


JOHN 
4-6 


JOHN 
7 - «? 


JOHN 
lO - />2 


JOHN 
13 - 15 


JOHN 

le - zo 


JOHN ACTS 
Zl " Z 


ACTS 
3-5 


ACTS 
6 - d 


AC-I-S 
T - K 


ACTS 
IZ - (4 


ACTS 
15 - 17 


ACTS 
IS - zz 


ACTS 

Z3 - Z5 


ACTS 

za - ze 


ROM. 
1 - 3 


ROM. 
4-6 


ROM. 
7 - <=? 


ROM. 
lO - IZ 


.SCM. f COR 
!3 "" 1 


1 COR. 
Z ~ ^ 


1 COR. 
5-7 


1 COR. 

a - lo 


1 COH. 
II - 13 


1 COR. 
(4 - 16 


Z COR. 
1 - 3 


Z COR. 


Z COH. 


;a COR. GAL 
l^ / 


GAL. 
^ - 4 


GAL. EPH. 
S 1 


EPH. 
.2-4 


-■^ 1 


P(-/ll_. COL.. 

z z 


COL. 1 THES 
3 "" 1 


( THES. 
^ - 4 


1 THES. Z THES 
5 ~ -2 


. Z THES. / T/n 
3 ~ -2 


1 TIM. 
3-5 


1 TIM. -2 Tin. 

e ~ z 


Z TIM. TIT. 


FH/LEM. HEB. 
1 •" 2 


HEB. 
3-5 


HEB. 
6 - S 


HEB. 
c? - // 


HEB. JAMES 
IZ 1 


JAMES 
Z - 4 


JAnES 1 PCT 
S 4 


1 PET Z PET 

S ~ z 


Z PET. / JOHN 
3 ~ Z 


1 JOHN 
3-5 


Z JN. J JW. JJDE 
1 1 1 


REV. 
1 - 3 


REV. 
4-6 


REV. 
7-11 


REV. 

IZ - 14 


REV. 
15 - /7 


REV. 
IS - ZO 


REV. 
Z\ - ZZ 







THE BIBLE AS IT IS 

A CERTIFICATE 

This certifies that I have this day, 
, 19 finished the work re- 
quired in this book including the reading of the Bible 
through, as evidenced by this book itself and by my 
signature hereunto affixed. 

Name 



Job said, "My witness is in heaven and my record is on high." (Job. 
16:19.) The author wishes, however, that anyone completing the work 
required in this book might be pleased to sign his name to the above 
certificate and then put the book away for testimony in coming years. 
It may be comforting bye and bye to you in your old age or to some- 
body else in another generation. 



m) 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



THE BIBLE READERS' BAND OF AMERICA 



This was organized in 191() for the purpose of influencing people to 
read the Bible through in twelve months. So many ungodly people are 
continually quoting sentences which they pretend to have read in the 
Bible, but which are not in the Bible at all. In ninety-nine cases out 
of a hundred their blulf is not called because the people to whcm they 
say these things have never read the Bible all the way through. 

It is the business of every well-informed young man or young woman 
to know what the Bible says. Regardless of whether he believes it or 
not, it is a matter of self-respecting education to know for a certainty 
whali the Bible does or does not say, Reading it all through once will 
contribute greatly to this sort of education. 

An}'^ one who reads the Bible all the way through in tw^elve months 
may send his name, address, and the date when he completed the read- 
ing, to the author of this book and his name will be placed on the 
list of a goodly company who have done the same thing. It is planned 
to preserve this Record Book for years until thousands upon thousands 
have enlisted. Ten cents in postage stamps will bring a Certificate 
signed by the President and Secretary of the B.R.B.A. showing the 
official number w^hich the newly enlisted member bears in the Record 
Book. Any one can enlist without any expense at all. But if a chart 
is wanted, like that on page 11, it will cost five cents. If a Book Mark 
is wianted, like that on pages 58 and 59, it will cost five cents. If a 
Certificate is wanted at the finish of the task, it will cost ten cents; 
for it has to be sent first class postage, well packed and protected. 
A beautiful, fine grade, electro-plated, hard-enameled, hand engraved 
pin resembling a four-leaf clover with an open Bible in the center, 
will, for twenty-five cents, be sent to any one who wishes to wear it 
during the year he is reading it through and as long thereafter as he 
pleases. A cut of this pin may be seen at the bottom of this page. 



CI 



THE BIBLE AS IT IS 



A STANDARD BIBLE GAME 



If Bible study can be promoted by means of a game, why not do it? 
If the passion for games may be utilized for Bible study, why not 
use it? If amusement may be had without irreverence, why not have it? 
If heated excitement may clinch the nails holding down valuable in- 
formation forever, why not clinch them? 

The author of this book would like to publish the many testimonials 
he has received regarding the Bible game which he invented several 
\oiars ago and which bears his name. But the fact that it has gone 
to the press through a number oi editions and is still in demand more 
than ever is sufficient evidence of its merit. 

Marion Law ranee, the great Sunday School expert, woiild never have 
published in the Sunday School Times over his own signature that 
"Lemon's Bible Game is the best one I know of" if there had been 
in his mind any question at lall as to its merit. 

It sells for sevent\'-five cents postpaid because the postage is heavy, 
because it has J. 20 cards of expensive quality for playing twelve diifer- 
ent games, and because it has a sixteen-page booklet of Directions 
expliaining how to use these 120 cards for playing all these different 
games. 

One game has been recently added so that there are now actually 
thirteen games in the combination, all of them entertaining and 
instructive. The finest thing, however, in the whole combination is 
the fact that some of these games 'are easy and some are difficult so 
that they may be adapted to the very small children of the Primary 
department on one occasion and to the adult or post-graduate classes 
on another occasion. Thirteen games in one set of 120 cards adapted 
to all ages of Bible students and to any ordinary number of players 
who may wish to play together at one time. 




62 



OTHER BOOKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR 



Elijah the Prophet, a Dream of the Christ $1.00 

Cloth bound, 282 pages. "As a presentation of biblical 
scenes it is worth ten times as much as Ben Hiir." 

Places of Interest in the Bible. Manilla cover, 108 pages 25 

PUgrim's Progress on Wheels. Paper cover, 101 pages 25 

Illustrated and humorous. Views of bicyclists. 

large Bible Chart, photographed on page 11, lithographed 

on card board,, 32 inches by 28, in two colors 25 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



029 822 261 9 



All Scripture Is Given... 

THAT THE MAN OF GOD MAY BE PERFECT 

Thoroughly Furnished 

UNTO ALL GOOD WORKS" 



